Trade Facilitation and the Global Economy

In a globalised world, where goods cross borders many times as intermediate and as final products, trade facilitation is essential to lowering overall trade costs and increasing economic welfare, in particular for developing and emerging economies. Facilitation efforts undertaken by various countries around the world also show that the benefits of such measures clearly compensate the costs and challenges posed by their implementation.
Trade facilitation, trade and global value chains
This chapter explores how specific border measures affect trade and the functioning of supply chains and what policy makers can do to optimise their operation. What are the trade facilitation policies and measures that have the strongest impact in reducing trade costs and enhancing trade flows? Which policies and measures matter most for boosting country participation in global value chains? The assessment focusses on the impact of trade facilitation measures on developing both the supply and the demand side of value chains.