The role of private sector in customs and border management reform: a comparative study in border management performance

Abstract

Customs compliance and border/port controls are a known bottleneck in international logistics operations. The World Bank's trading across borders dataset, for example, places Brazil's border management performance at the 124th place out of 189 countries while the UK is considered to be amongst the world's top performing countries. Border management performance has a direct impact on the business community's ability to access and compete effectively within global markets. In order to improve customs and border management ' practices, members of the World Trade organization (WTO) are committing themselves to the implementation of trade facilitation measures in line with perceived international best-practice recommendations, norms and regulations. Their implementation requires the cooperation between the public and private sector and necessitates a shift from an arms-length type control and enforcement paradigm to one of collaboration. This study examines the institutional mechanism necessary to support public-private cooperation in international logistics operations and the quality of their effectiveness by drawing on the UK and Brazilian case. The research is likely to have immediate utility for border management reform in Brazil and the UK. Findings will also inform ongoing multilateral and bilateral trade efforts to strengthen trade facilitation, and the public-private sector institutions that this would necessitate. The research project will take an ethnographic approach that builds on research and draws from fields of public administration, supply chain management, international law and economics. (AU)