This guidance on the establishment and maintenance of NCTFS supplements many ;WCO tools that already support the implementation of the TFA and related cooperation of all stakeholders - including (but not limited to):
- the TFA Implementation Guidance including its new Introduction around organizational approaches;
- chapters on stakeholder engagement in the WCO Capacity Building Development Compendium;
- the CBM and Single Window Compendiums;
- the WCO Data Model (offering standardized data for Customs, border agencies and the private sector);
- and the Time Release Study approach (as a means to identify bottlenecks of cooperation of Customs, other border agencies and the private sector in border procedures).
WCO Secretariat Note on Current State of Play of WCO Members in the Area of National Committees on Trade Facilitation (NCTFs) (2021)
The Annual Consolidated Survey (ACS) in 2021 included a new chapter on NCTFs (Chapter 5), which was introduced with the objective of taking stock of the current state of play in this area, six years after a similar survey was last carried out. The ACS looked in particular into the challenges and opportunities observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were a total of nine questions in this Chapter. The results of the WCO Annual Consolidated Survey on NCTFs have been compiled into the Secretariat Note on Current State of Play of WCO Members in the Area of National Committees on Trade Facilitation (NCTF).
The Secretariat Note was presented to the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC) at its 233rd/234th sessions in October 2021 and the PTC supported the publication of the Secretariat Note as an Annex to the existing WCO Guidance on NCTFs.