The impact of information and communication technology on trade facilitation: a case study of east and Southern Africa

Abstract

The main points of this paper were presented at the first Global Conference of the International Network of Customs Universities on May 21-23, 2014 in Baku, the Azerbaijan Republic. Customs administrations need a vibrant use of information and communication technology (ICT) to buttress their effectiveness and efficiency. The goal is to use electronic data instead of paper documents and to connect different computer systems of government agencies and business to create a robust supply chain. This paper discusses the use of ICT in East and Southern Africa (ESA) Customs which has resulted in the improvement of trade facilitation. In so doing valuable benefits are reaped by stakeholders in the international business supply chain. The stakeholders include government agencies, intermediaries and traders. All the stakeholders also play a key role in trade facilitation which is driven by their distinct interests and needs in the trade supply chain. The paper identifies some of the significant benefits from trade facilitation as the reduction in the burden and costs associated with international trade transactions. There are further benefits which are related to a good trade facilitation environment such as the creation of greater opportunities to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). There are many other positive multiple linkages which are linked to good border clearance and trade facilitation systems which can accrue to an economy and hence contributing to economic progress as well as driving regional integration and international trade. The paper also outlines that ICT plays a significant and critical role in various border clearance functions such as one stop border posts (OSBPs), goods release or clearance times (as measured by the Time Release Study), the single window concept and coordinated border management. Whilst ICT is not short of its challenges it provides a lot of future opportunities in customs administration. The paper concludes that ICT drives a robust customs administration system and thereafter recommends that it is important to prioritise the full automation of all customs processes chief among them being having a complete single window system in order to realize all the gains of automation.