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The Key Design Concepts
of the TTFSE Program
The Trade and
Transport Facilitation in Southeast Europe Program (TTFSE)
fosters trade by promoting more efficient and less costly
trade flows across the countries in Southeast Europe and
provides European Union-compatible customs standards. The
program seeks to reduce non-tariff costs to trade and
transport, reduce smuggling and corruption at border
crossings, and strengthen and modernize the customs
administrations and other border control agencies. The
participants in the program include Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and the State Union of Serbia
and Montenegro. The program is
the result of a collaborative effort between the national
governments in the region, the World Bank, and the United
States in collaboration with the European Union. This program
is managed by the
Europe and Central Asia Transport cluster of the
Infrastructure and Energy Unit (ECSIE) of the World
Bank.
Membership in
the TTFSE Program is based on being a recipient of funding for
Customs reform under a Loan from the IBRD or a Credit from the
IDA and signing a joint Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU). By signing the MoU the
participants commit to joining the Regional Steering Committee
of the TTFSE and to collaborate in the resolution of common
problems constraining trade in the region. Pilot sites are
identified in each of the participating countries, and
performance indicators specifically agreed to for each country
are monitored at these sites. The results are to be shared at
the meetings of the RSC and to provide the basis for
discussing best practice for the resolution of the common
problems.
The TTFSE is
keyed to improving the quality of communication with and
services provided to users. Thus the regional character of
the program also includes a web-site accessible by
transporters in order to determine specific regulations and
fees, current procedures and documentary requirements. The
site is managed by the public-private committees on trade
and transport facilitation (PRO-Committees) and is available
at www.ttfse.org. In
parallel the Chamber of Commerce of the various TTFSE
countries have offered a series of seminars targeted at
transporters, forwarders and shippers on topics like trade,
transport, insurance and business ethics. The content of
these seminars is available to contributing partners of the
Global Facilitation Partnership for Transportation and Trade
(www.gfptt.org). Please
contact Gerald Ollivier
(golliver@worldbank.org), if interested in reusing the
content. Two Distance Learning programs with professional
certifications are piloted under the program in partnership
with the International Road Transport Union (IRU) Academy
and the International Freight Forwarder Association (FIATA).
IRU Certificates have been issued to the first batch of
candidates who passed their exam.
Click here for more information on the key TTFSE Design
Concepts
Program
Components
The Trade and Transport Facilitation
program in South East Europe consists of the following project
components: Customs Services Procedures Reform, Trade
Facilitation Development, Support to Integrated Customs
Information System (ICIS), Improvement of Roads and Border
Crossing Facilities, and Program and Project
Implementation.
Click here for detailed information on each project
component.
Program
Funding (US$m) and Status
| |
Albania |
BiH(*) |
Bulgaria |
Croatia |
FYR Macedonia |
Moldova |
Romania |
Serbia and Montenegro |
|
Government |
2.9 |
3.2 |
3.6 |
6.2 |
3.1 |
0.9 |
8.7 |
1.1 |
|
USA |
1.3 |
0.7 |
1.5 |
1.9 |
2.1 |
1.2 |
1.4 |
2.3 |
|
IDA |
8.1 |
11.0 |
0 |
0 |
9.3 |
7.2 |
0 |
6.8 |
|
IBRD |
0 |
0 |
7.4 |
13.9 |
0 |
0 |
12.6 |
0 |
|
Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.8 |
|
TOTAL |
12.3 |
14.9 |
12.5 |
22.1 |
14.5 |
9.3 |
22.7 |
11.0 |
| Status |
active |
active |
closed |
active |
active |
active |
closed |
active |
(*) Project
sources for Bosnia and Herzegovina are as follows: Rep. Srpska
(0.8), BiH Federation (2.2), Ministry of Civil Affairs and
Communication (0.2)
Click here for detailed information on program funding and
status.
Facilitating Support
The
sustainability of the reform process under trade facilitation
projects is dependent upon partnership and participation
of the key stakeholders in the country. From the beginning
efforts must be made to ensure the participation of the
stakeholders and to promote a sense of partnership. This
partnership includes multiple donors, multiple agencies of the
government, and the private sector.
The management
of the reform process, sometimes referred to as "Change
Management" is a difficult process. It must take into
account the reality of each country and the specific needs
and areas identified in the preparation of the project for
reform; it must take into account the logical progression
for reform; it must take into account the fact that there
will be resistance to change. A central document for each
country is a "Strategic Plan" or "Development
Strategy". This helps specify what is to be involved in
the reform process and ideally provides a time-frame for
actions. This plan is usually attached to the credit or loan
agreement signed with IDA or the IBRD to indicate the clear
intentions of the government in following through with the
reform process.
In order to
facilitate in-agency cooperation, a project coordinator
is designated in each country. This is a high-level officials
who can work with each of the separate government agencies
responsible for border control in a specific country.
Coordination among these agencies as well as between them and
their counter-part agencies in other countries is important to
sustainability.
Funding under
the project, including financing by other donors, is intended
to provide sustainable reform. This includes not only technical
assistance but also training. The end objective is
the promotion of professional performance by the staff
involved in cross-border clearances.
The private
sector has been included in not only the identification
process but also in the monitoring of project results. Local
public relations programs by Customs and other agencies will
incorporate a similar approach on a long-term basis with the
objective of shifting culture of border control agencies
toward the interests of their actual "clients". The
trade facilitation component of each project seeks to better
link the public and private sector through the provision
of accurate and timely information and training. The reform
process may take up to ten years. The key to the
sustainability of the process will be the inclusion of
opportunities for partnership and participation.
TTFSE II
TTFSE is now
moving into a second phase – TTFSE II, which will
consolidate the achievements made under the original Program
while also replicating and scaling them up. TTFSE II sets
itself a broader and more ambitious aim than TTFSE – not
restricted to Customs, road transport and improvements at
selected border crossings and inland terminals – of
embracing further aspects of trade facilitation by ensuring
effective collaboration between all agencies active at
border crossings (Customs, road administration, border
police, phyto-sanitary and veterinary controls), all modes
of transport in the region (road, rail, inland waterway, and
multimodal transport), and all border crossings on the main
TEN-T Corridors running through Southeast Europe and
connecting the region with its neighbours.
The objective
of TTFSE II will be to increase the trade competitiveness of
Southeast Europe through improving the availability of
adequate logistics services connecting the region with its
neighbours, as well as regional and global markets, through
supporting infrastructure and technical assistance, while
strengthening the capacity of the private sector to provide
logistic services. At the core of TTFSE II is the corridor
approach to trade and transport facilitation in Southeast
Europe.
TTFSE II
envisages support for (i) infrastructure upgrades along the
core TEN-T corridors (road, rail, ports) with a special
emphasis on border crossing areas, (ii) improvement of the
efficiency and effectiveness of border control agencies and
government transport related agencies (railways, ports
authorities, toll agencies), (iii) optimization of
information flows among border agencies, across borders,
within border agencies, and between those agencies and
traders or transport operators, and (iv) building-up the
capacities of the private sector.
The TTFSE II
Program, currently under preparation, will be open to
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and possibly to
Turkey and Kosovo.
Applicability
to other Region/Countries
(click here for information)
Core
Documents
Country-specific
TTFSE Project Information Documents (PID), Project
Appraisal Documents (PAD) and press releases
TTFSE Manual
(76
pages, pdf, 422 KB)
Trade
Facilitation: Guide to Roles and Responsibilities (32
pages, pdf, 115 KB)
Chart of
Institutional Arrangements of the TTFSE Projects (pdf,
11 KB)
List of Key
TTFSE Coordinators/Managers
Maps
Map
of Trade and Transport Facilitation in South East Europe
Project - Main Trade Patterns, created in 2002 (pdf, 292 KB)
Map
of Trade and Transport Facilitation in South East Europe
Project - Main Trade Patterns, created in 2000 (pdf, 265 KB)
Trade and Transport Facilitation in South East Europe
Project - List of Project Sites
Reports
and Presentations
Regional
Steering Committee Reports
Memorandum
of Understanding on Trade and Transport Facilitation in
Southeast Europe (Skopje,
February 10, 2000)
The
Global Facilitation Partnership for Transportation and
Trade Distance Learning Initiative (GFP-DLI), April
2002 (PowerPoint,
107 KB)
Trade
and Transport Facilitation in Southeast Europe Program:
Tools and Findings After a Year of Implementation,
April 2002
(PowerPoint, 105 KB)
Special Features
TTFSE
Survey of SMEs in Southeast Europe regarding trade and
transport facilitation impediments (Year II) (December 2003) TTFSE
Trade Facilitation Component Progress and Organization,
September 2001
(PowerPoint, 60 KB)
Progress
to Date and Immediate Priorities,
October 2001 (PowerPoint, 59 KB)
A
Turkish Trucker's Tall Tale: What Transit Could Look
Like in a Few Years
TTFSE User Survey After One Year of Implementation
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