The Trade Facilitation Support Program (TFSP) was launched in June 2014 to support countries seeking assistance to improve their cross-border trade environments and better align their trade practices with the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA).
TFSP’s funding helps countries—particularly developing countries—achieve full and effective implementation of the WTO TFA measures and related trade facilitation reforms. TFSP funding helps client countries:
The TFSP currently supports 56 countries across all regions, most of which are least developed countries. The largest share of countries receiving support are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Support is also provided to fragile and conflict-affected countries.
The World Bank Group has helped countries significantly improve their alignment with the WTO TFA. The TFA Tracking Tool helps countries to monitor and report on progress. As of the end of June 2023, the overall WTO TFA alignment scores of TFSP countries had risen from 41 to 53 percent.
Recognizing the important roles of both the public and private sectors in trade facilitation, the World Bank Group implements the TFSP by drawing on the unique expertise of both the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The program is funded by nine donor partners: Australia, Canada, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The World Bank Group works very closely with the WTO, and other partners and donors in supporting developing countries in improving border processes and procedures.
April 28, 2023: Helping Lao businesses trade — the Authorized Economic Operator Program
April 1, 2023: Bananas and Blight – An Illustration In The Complexity of Global Trade
March 8, 2023: Transforming Economic Opportunities for Women Through Trade
January 30, 2023: How Innovation is Revolutionizing Global Trade
September 21, 2022: Supporting Safe Trade to Improve Nepal's Export Position
June 22, 2022: New Clearance Procedures Save Time at North Macedonia Border
August 5, 2021: Digital Trade Can Help North Macedonia Build Back Better Post-COVID-19
July 9, 2021: Montenegro Cuts Import Clearance Time: 8 Hours to 30 Minutes
February 25, 2021: Trade Facilitation Challenges for Women Traders in the Pacific Islands and Timor-Leste
May 10, 2023: Digital certification makes cocoa traders in Côte d'Ivoire more competitive
April 28, 2023: Helping Lao businesses trade — the Authorized Economic Operator Program
August 6, 2022: Public-private collaboration facilitates the import of vaccines in Tonga
June 22, 2022: Lao PDR Trade Portal: Ten years old and growing strong
June 1, 2022: Time release studies: Making trade faster and more predictable in Europe and Central Asia
May 3, 2022: Helping women entrepreneurs break into global markets by overcoming challenges at the border
November 2, 2021: Trade facilitation: Critical to COVID-19 recovery
November 8, 2021: Managing organizational performance in Customs during a crisis period
March 8, 2022: Brazil: Understanding trade facilitation barriers for women
February 25, 2021: Trade Facilitation Challenges for Women Traders in the Pacific Islands and Timor-Leste
Regional | Fiji | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Timor-Leste | Vanuatu
November 10, 2020: Risk Prioritization in Phytosanitary Management: A Step-by-Step Guide
October 31, 2022: Single Window: A Path to Paperless Trade
February 25, 2021: Unlocking Trade for Women in the Pacific
June 22, 2020: Managing Risk and Facilitating Trade During the COVID-19
June 27, 2019: 360 Video: Making trade faster, cheaper and easier in Sierra Leone
February 6, 2019: 360 Video: Trading Across Borders in Guatemala and Honduras
June 1, 2023: What Caribbean Rum Cake Teaches us About Trade
May 1, 2023: A (Digital) Window to the World of Trade
April 1, 2023: Bananas & Blight
March 1, 2023: Invisible Women
February 15, 2023: The Climate Conundrum
January 30, 2023: Around the World of Trade
January 15, 2023: Trade Tips Podcast: What You Can Expect
May 17, 2023: Western Balkan Economies Seek Faster, Safer Trade Together
May 16, 2023: Trade Facilitation Regional Maturity and Capacity Building Conference taking place in Belgrade Serbia
April 23, 2023: Peru: Government announces new measures to improve the competitiveness of exporting companies (Spanish)
March 30, 2023: Timor-Leste: World Bank and MTCI sign MOU to provide trade information portal to support import and export activities
March 23, 2023: Export of plant products from May 2023 – Cote D’Ivoire will officially issue ephyto certificates (French)
March 21, 2023: Bosnia: Final workshop held on the creation of a roadmap for the establishment of a national single window for cross-border trade (Bosnian)
March 20, 2023: Kosovo: Introducing the National Single Window Guide (Albanian)
March 15, 2023: Timor-Leste: New Biosecurity Laws Passed
March 9, 2023: Western Balkans: Towards a New Generation of Regional Cooperation through Digitalization (Macedonian)
February 8, 2023: Kick off meeting for Time Release Study in Uzbekistan
December 16, 2022: Supporting the Effective Implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in the Pacific
December 8, 2022: First World Trade Congress on Gender
November 11, 2022: Central America: Expediting trade in the region, key to development (Spanish)
September 19, 2022: Building trust: Trade in the age of digitalization
July 27, 2022: Creating an Enabling Environment to Increase Women's Participation in Trade
June 29, 2022: Five-Year Anniversary of the Trade Facilitation Agreement
June 26, 2022: Lesotho: Launch of National Single Window for Trade
April 1, 2022: Kosovo: Customs reduces clearance times
March 30, 2022: Roadmap for Electronic Single Windows in Montenegro and Kosovo
March 26, 2022: Pakistan: Launch of the Trade Information Portal | Portal
March 8, 2022: Gender equality and inclusion in trade
February 22, 2022: Supply chain resilience highlighted at fifth anniversary of Trade Facilitation Agreement
February 1, 2022: Global Forum for National Trade Facilitation Committees
November 26, 2021: Milestone review of Trade Facilitation Agreement
November 9, 2021: Boosting trade competitiveness in the Pacific
December 23, 2020: Vietnam Launches First-Ever Free Trade Agreement Portal
December 11, 2020: A Single Source for All Cross-Border Trade Information in Mongolia Portal
November 9, 2020: Lesotho Re-launches Trade Information Portal: New, Simplified and User-Friendly
September 30, 2020: Eswatini Launches Trade Information Portal: “Export-Import Made Easier”
September 16, 2020: Montenegro certifies first AEO
May 20, 2020: Zambia Launches Trade Information Portal
October 17, 2019: Kosovo Launches AEO with Support of the World Bank Group
September 18, 2019: Developing Country Participation Critical to ISO's Future
July 3, 2019: Aid for Trade Review opens with call to preserve trading system as driver for development
May 16, 2019: Shaw Launches New Trade Information Portal
April 1, 2019: Zambia: Donor partners witness trade improvements
September 11, 2018: IFC Helps Mongolia Government Facilitate Trade by Enhancing Risk Management of Border Agencies
September 2, 2018: Serbia, Macedonia Leaders Hail 'One-Stop Shop' Border Project
August 16, 2018: Agencies Explore Workable Single Window System Customized for Fiji
April 11, 2018: 26 Years Independent Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia
February 23, 2018: New book launched at STDF Policy Committee: “Driving safe trade solutions worldwide”
July 7, 2017: Seeking for Potential Bilateral Cooperation between the IPPC and the WB
December 17, 2015: Azevêdo welcomes efforts to help implement Trade Facilitation Agreement
