Trade facilitation has a long history in UNCTAD, whose
mandate in this area dates from the final act of its first
Ministerial Conference in 1964. The work of UNCTAD
in the trade-facilitation area has taken various forms,
constantly adjusting to the needs and the priorities of
UNCTAD member States. An example of the work of
UNCTAD in this area is the Automated SYstem for
CUstoms DAta (ASYCUDA), used by more than 90
countries. With regard to the transport sector, trade
facilitation is an essential element to ease the burden
of international transport operations, which are often
hampered by excessive and repetitive procedures, in
particular at border crossing along the transport chain