Doing Business with the World - Mapeo de Promotores de RSE

Business Action forImproving CustomsAdministration in Africa(BAFICAA)Led by Unilever, British AmericanTobacco, SITPRO (the UK’s tradefacilitation agency) and Diageo, BAFICAAis a flagship trade facilitation program ofBusiness Action for Africa. BAFICAA’sprimary objective is to achievemeasurable and meaningful progress incustoms reform by retaining a strongprivate sector lead while working in awider cooperative relationship withgovernments, donors and otherstakeholders in Africa. A business-focusedstudy on customs administration wasundertaken in 20 countries.Subsequently a series ofrecommendations was developed.Implementation is being planned in EastAfrica (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania)with the private sector and governmentauthorities, and with the support ofPricewaterhouseCoopers.The program has concentrated on sixareas: The need for fast-track customsservices for compliant and low-risktaxpayers and traders; The need to support change incustoms administration; Automation of customs processesand procedures; A service charter between thecustoms services department and theprivate sector; Avoiding duplication andunnecessary bureaucracy in postclearance audits and valuationprocesses; Training, accreditation andcertification for customs agencies.Discussions are also underway in Nigeria,and talks are planned in Southern Africa.Key challengeslimiting progressBroadly speaking, the challenges toimproved global trade fall into twocategories: non-tariff and tariff related.At a national level, domestic demandand subsistence needs often limit thecapacity of developing countries toproduce goods and services for globaltrade. Lack of production capacity andoutmoded facilities often restrictmanufacturing activities makingproducts from developing countriesuncompetitive in global markets. Theseare compounded further by a heavyreliance on agricultural goods andprimary commodities. Coupled withthis, infrastructure constraints includingpoor transport networks, inefficientand poorly equipped ports, weakpower supplies, lack oftelecommunications capacity, etc. alsorestrict developing countries’ access tothe global trade regime.Region or EconomyDocumentsfor export(number)Signaturesfor export(number)sub-Saharan Africa 8.5 18.9 48.6 12.8 29.9 60.5Figure 44: Barriers to tradeTariff-related challenges to global tradeinclude restrictive trade tariffs imposedon agricultural goods from developingcountries, and agricultural tradedistortions resulting from massivedeveloped-country subsidies applied toagricultural goods. Ineffective tradeagreements and a lack of integrationTime forexport(days)Documentsfor import(number)Signaturesfor import(number)Time forimport(days)East Asia and Pacific 7.1 7.2 25.8 10.3 9.0 28.6Europe and Central Asia 7.7 10.9 31.6 11.7 15.0 43.0Latin America and Caribbean 7.5 8.0 30.3 10.6 11.0 37.0Middle East and North Africa 7.3 14.5 33.6 10.6 21.3 41.9OECD 5.3 3.2 12.6 6.9 3.3 14.0South Asia 8.1 12.1 33.7 12.8 24.0 46.5among the different trade blocs furtherhinder improved trade. Finally, theapparent collapse of the Doha round oftrade negotiations represents a delayedopportunity to conduct inclusivemultilateral trade talks to improveglobal trade for both developing anddeveloped countries.Source: World Bank/IFC. Doing Business 2007: How toReform. 2006.Added to this, ineffective governmentpolicies and poor regulatoryframeworks similarly hinder theproduction of goods and services forglobal trade. Heavy bureaucracy,lengthy administrative and importexportprocedures, and burdensomecustoms regulations are also animpediment (see Figure 44).42