TRS as Measurement of TF Customs Experience in

TRS as Measurement of TF: Customs Experience in Asia Pacific Shujie ZHANG WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) For the WCO PICARD Conference 2009 Sep 28– 30, 2009 San Jose, Costa Rica

Why: Efficiency of Customs How to measure? facilitation control Collect revenue Facilitate legitimate trade Protect domestic Ind. Protect society Secure trade security

Why: Complexity in Importation Import License Customs Importer Customs Broker Airlines Border Police Quarantine s Shipping lines Food sanitation Agents Port Authority Immigration Forwarder Warehouse Banks Container Yards

Why: Stakeholders Customs &OGAs Trade community Government - Internal audits or review - Continous improvement - Link to modernization Remove time delays - Modern logistics like just-intime inventory - Predictability and transparency - - International community Trade facilitation Better revenue generation Good governance WTO trade facilitation negotiation - Remove non-tariff barriers - üSimplified, transparent procedures üEfficient processing of legitimate trade flow üReduced time and cost

TRS: Image (sea) Consumed by by Importer, Shipping company Customs broker Shipping agent Container Yard Port Authority, etc. OGAs, etc. Ship Arrival Unloading Consumed by Customs Bank Customs broker Declaration Consumed by Port Authority Container Yard Warehouse, Forwarder, etc. Permission Delivery

What: TRS Timeline TRS Guideline was reviewed & updated by WCO First TRS by Japan and US 2001 1994 TRS was adopted by WCO 2005 TRS Software was developed by WCO and the World Bank

Link to Other TF Indicators Doing Business Index Cross border Logistics Performa nce Index Time/ procedures Enabling Trade Index

Regional Rollout: Membership

Regional Rollout: Phased Approach Initiation Preparation Data Collection. Analysis & Report Action For Improvement

Regional Rollout: Matrix Level Countries / Projects Time Method Use of WCO Software First Time Initiation Support Country Level Australia 2007 Manual No Yes APEC Japan, Korea China 2006 Manual No Yes APEC ROCB Indonesia 2006 Manual No Yes NA JICA Japan Since 1991 Manual No Periodical Self / Korea Since 1997 Auto -matic No Periodical Self / Lao PDR 2008 Manual Yes World Bank ROCB Philippines 2002 Manual No Yes Self JICA Malaysia 1995, 2007 Manual Yes No Self WCO Thailand 2006 Manual No Yes Self ROCB GMS CBTA EWC TRS[i] 2009 Manual Yes No[ii] ADB ROCB BIMP-EAGA TRS[iii] 2009 Manual Yes ADB ROCB Regional Level

Regional Rollout : Japan Case Conduct regularly since 1991 Quantitative Evaluation n (billion yen) : 7 consecutive days Duration (8 th TRS: 13 -19 March 2006) n Geographical Scope: All regional Customs (At least one sea port). n Types of goods: All cargoes. n Choice of Traffic: Sea and Air n Choice of Customs Office: 22 major sea ports and 4 major air ports. Source: Ministry of Finance, Japan (2004 year basis) n

Regional Rollout: ROCB Role n TRS Workshop in Thailand (2006) TRS Workshop in China (2006) TRS Workshop in Lao PDR, in cooperation with World Bank (2008, 2009) TRS Workshop for BIMP-EGGA (Mar. 2009) n TRS Workshop for GMS EWEC (Jun. 2009) n n Developed “Regional Best Practice Compendium on TRS” (2007)

Regional Rollout : Common findings n Customs may not be a significant impediment n Entities and variables on TTF are numerous and usually intertwined and inter-dependent n The private sector may be responsible for some delays n Regular conduct of a TRS

Regional Rollout: Dilemmas n Customs only vs. whole process? n Look easy vs. actually difficult? n Standard-alone vs. integral? n Quantitative vs. qualitative? n Performance measurement or not? n Benchmarking tool or not? n The quicker, the better?

On Successful TRS n n n Political will and concrete commitment should be in place. Stakeholders’ buy-in should be obtained. Project management approach should be adopted. Defining types and components of clearance process is critical. Principle of 3 W & H should be followed. Use findings properly and utilized wisely

Conclusions n TRS can contribute to the continuous improvement of trade and transportation facilitation n The WCO Guideline should be adapted locally. n TRS incorporated into national TTF strategy and Customs modernization program n Capacity building is critical

Shujie (Jack) ZHANG Technical Attaché WCO ROCB (Bangkok) shujie@rocbap. org rocb@rocbap. org