The time-release study methodology to identify problems and
bottlenecks in the cross-border movement of goods so that
effective solutions can be developed.
Taken together, these tools and instruments provide essential
support to WCO members, helping them to adapt best practices
and advanced border management methodologies to their
national contexts while expanding their capacity and capability.
The positive contributions of customs to trade facilitation are
illustrated in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI)
2012, which noted that, “Across income groups, customs agencies have higher LPI ratings than all other agencies involved
in border management. But in many countries, the agencies
responsible for enforcing sanitary and phytosanitary regulations
– and to less extent other product standards – lag well behind
customs in their perceived performance. A comprehensive
approach is needed to reform border management, with
attention to all the relevant sectors and agencies.”
Traders are indifferent to the distinction between customs and
other agencies at the border, and rightly so: the trade does not
care which government agency is delaying its goods, only that
delays can cost them dear.