UN’s reform tracker tool facilitates trade in 30 nations

The UN Trade and Development has helped nearly 30 countries better monitor, coordinate, and fast-track actions to reduce the time and cost of trade using a digital tool known as a reform tracker.

So far, nearly 30 economies have benefitted from the reform tracker.

Between April 2022 and June 2024, only nine out of 95 developing and least developed countries reported early implementation of measures relating to the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Trade Facilitation Agreement helps reduce bureaucracy and lower trade costs for businesses, particularly benefiting developing countries. It simplifies and streamlines international trade procedures, making it easier and faster to move goods across borders.

Among these front runners, Cambodia, Egypt, Eswatini, and Maldives, participate in the Accelerate Trade Facilitation programme, jointly implemented by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Customs Organisation.

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The programme, funded by the United Kingdom, features an online reform tracker tool that enables better coordination and monitoring of trade facilitation reforms.

Real-time insights from the reform tracker have helped user countries like Cambodia, Egypt, Eswatini, and Maldives identify their implementation progress more quickly.

In June, these four countries collectively reported an accelerated timeline of 42 years to implement 19 trade facilitation agreement measures. On average, each measure was implemented two years earlier than expected.

Similar progress is also reflected in the TFA implementation score compiled by UN Trade and Development.

Data from 21 countries participating in implementing the reform tracker shows that the overall score increased by 36 percentage points from April 2022 to June 2024.

The reform tracker also streamlines reporting and enhances coordination.

“The reform tracker, combined with our advisory services and training courses, has significantly bolstered the ability of developing countries to oversee and lead the trade facilitation agenda,” says Shamika Sirimanne, director of technology and logistics at UN Trade and Development.

This web-based tool helps national trade facilitation committees (NTFCs) organise information about their members and systematically coordinate the inter-agency implementation of priority trade facilitation initiatives.

“The reform tracker has been a crucial digital tool in advancing goals promptly, facilitating engagement, communication, and participation of stakeholders from the public and private sectors,” says Karen Sosa Salgado, trade facilitation coordinator at the Ministry of Economic Development of Honduras.

Additionally, the tool automates task distribution, resource planning, and data collection, easing the process for NTFCs to report progress on trade facilitation reforms.

“The secretariat of national trade facilitation committees is more confident to report early implementation with information collected, validated, and traceable through the reform tracker,” says Arántzazu Sánchez, UN Trade and Development project manager.