Building African Trade Capacity
SITPRO has been collaborating with its partners in the Business Action for Improvement of Customs Administration in Africa (BAFICAA) to produce a report that aims at identifying business priorities for improving Customs regimes in Africa and specific practical means of achieving them. BAFICAA emerged from the Business Action for Africa created to build on the Commission for Africa Report published one year ago and is an attempt to explore practical ways the private sector can help build Africa's capacity to trade.
The report will highlight the potential improvements that the private sector and customs administrations can act upon in partnership. While this will not be the first report on Customs improvement in Africa, it probably is the first to have been commissioned by the private sector and to have been informed by the in-country experiences of African businesses.
This is the first component of a larger project and SITPRO will continue, in its role as secretariat to BAFICAA to help build Africa's capacity to trade through trade facilitation.
A Study in Security
The world has changed considerably since 9/11 and SITPRO recognises the importance of ensuring secure borders against the threat of terrorism. The tragic events of 9/11, Madrid and 7/7 show how important it is that governments do all they can to ensure that such events are not repeated. Though insecure trade was not a cause of those events it might be in the future.
In light of these developments and with a view to the future SITPRO is collaborating with Chatham House on a report which seeks to assess where communications and partnerships between business traders and government can be improved in the design and implementation of border security controls. Chatham House's International Security Programme in cooperation with SITPRO is undertaking this study and will examine the implications of national and international security measures on UK trade facilitation.
Given the panoply of security measures and requirements emanating from government entities the lines of communication and potential partnerships between government and the business trading community will be examined. The report will assess the nature of security controls with a view to exploring where synergies lie and then examine their interaction and cross-sectoral linkages with and within the business community. The report will undertake an analysis of UK legislation and will examine the level of overlap and duplication in the information required by enforcement agencies, all of which may create additional burdens on business.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 57, Summer 2006
