Asia Pacific Foundation Survey: Customs Procedures Block Asian Trade

Customs procedures in Asia are a serious obstacle to trade, even greater than tariffs and other issues focused on by traditional trade organizations such as the WTO, according to a survey conducted by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Commissioned by the APEC Business Advisory Council, the survey collected the views of business people in the APEC region on three issues that are part of APEC’s trade facilitation agenda: customs procedures; standards and conformances; and mobility of business people. Fifty-three percent of the respondents regarded customs procedures to be a “serious” or “very serious” trade obstacle – more than any other category. The survey results were presented at a workshop on trade facilitation in APEC in Singapore this week. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the World Bank and the Government of Canada.