Business Facilitation Thru. Custom Procedure

closed

The project aims to promote international business in Latin America and the Caribbean through the coordinated adoption of eight selected customs measures for expediting international business. As a result, the project will contribute to the economic integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, and that of the region with the rest of the world. The facilitation measures seek to streamline procedures for persons traveling to other countries for business purposes and for the urgent clearance of goods involving express delivery and receipt or goods the low value of which would not justify more exhaustive and costly customs procedures. Through the project, electronic communications among customs agencies and between them and the business operators in the respective countries will be encouraged, codes or rules will be established to promote the ethical behavior of officials, and methods will be developed to better target inspection procedures on operations and/or persons presenting well-founded indications of risk. The project will have four components: (i) project coordination and dissemination (US$280,000 from the MIF and US$280,000 in counterpart funds); (ii) assistance in the evaluation of needs and application preparation (US$240,000 from the MIF and US$120,000 in counterpart funds); (iii) technical cooperation in each country for the adoption of customs measures (US$2.4 million from the MIF and US$1.6 million in counterpart funds); and (iv) independent project evaluation and external audit (US$55,000 from the MIF). Given the large number of countries interested in the project and differences in the degree of implementation of measures for simplifying customs procedures as described above, it is difficult to know the specific technical assistance needs of each country. For this reason, the project is broadly structured, with the establishment of a unit within CIAT to which interested countries can turn with their specific requests for support tailored to their needs. CIAT will manage the project, disseminate it among the countries in the region, assist in identifying needs and will receive, evaluate and approve requests for support. To assist CIAT in this regard, a high-level customs expert will be retained to serve as project coordinator. CIAT will also be responsible for procuring the goods and services necessary for the project, in consultation with the beneficiary countries, and will comply with the Bank's procurement rules, procedures and policies.