 Data and performance indicators on trade costs are necessary to encourage accountability by public agencies, measure, evaluate the service to users, and track progress in meeting goals of lowering trade costs over time. In addition, performance indicators can help in comparisons of country performance in facilitating trade against other export competitors. They are also helpful in monitoring the impact of policy reform and other measures taken to reduce costs and facilitate trade.
Trade costs that impact private firms have most often been proxied by a single indicator. These include; (1) import prices, (2) international transport costs, or (3) the productivity of a particular transportation mode (air, maritime, road). Broader indicators that reflect overall progress in lowering trade costs can augment these traditional measures. A compendium of selected data sets and indicators on trade costs and facilitation are provided in the following sections: General Indicators | Customs and Border Crossing Time | Port Indicators Transport Infrastructure Indicators | Services and Information Technology Indicators
General Indicators NEW! EU Standards Database The dataset files in this page contain a data on the EU Standards Database for agricultural products and textiles/clothing The EU Standards Database collates European standards for agricultural products and textiles/clothing over the period 1995-2003, and maps them to the Harmonized System. For each product-year combination, counts are given both of the number of standards and of the number of pages of standards. In general, rapid growth is observed both in the number and average length of standards. Doing Business Database
The Doing Business Database provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement. The Doing Business indicators are comparable across 155 economies, indicating regulatory costs of business, and can be used to analyze specific regulations that enhance or constrain investment, productivity and growth. The Doing Business 2006 report includes a section on “Trading Across Borders” as one of the 10 topics of Doing Business, which compiles procedural requirements for trading a standardized shipment of goods. Data are available on trade facilitation for cross country analysis. They include: Number of documents for export Signatures for export Time for export (in calendar days) Number of documents for import Signatures for import Time for import (in calendar days)
World Business Environment Survey (WBES)
The World Business Environment Survey (WBES) is a survey of over 10,000 firms in 80 countries and one territory conducted in 1999-2000 that examines a wide range of interactions between firms and the state. Based on face-to-face interviews with firm managers and owners, WBES is designed to generate comparative measurements in areas like corruption, judiciary, lobbying, and the quality of the business environment. To provide the most transparent, flexible and user-friendly approach to access the data and prepare charts and tables, an interactive web-tool has been developed to work with the WBES. In the data analysis, these business climate constraints are related to specific firm characteristics and firm performance. Investment Climate Surveys (ICS)
Investment Climate Surveys (ICS) provide both quantitative and qualitative information on a wide range of investment climate conditions and links them to their impact on firm productivity, investment and employment. The ICS -- including the Business Environment and Enterprise Surveys (BEEPS) joint with the EBRD -- report results from surveys of over 30,000 entrepreneurs in over 50 countries.
OECD-WTO: Doha Development Agenda Trade Capacity Building Database (TCBDB)
The TCBDB has been established by the WTO jointly with the OECD to provide information on trade-related technical assistance and capacity building projects. It covers national as well as regional projects. It is an on-going activity and the 2004 Joint WTO/OECD Report on Trade-Related Technical Assistance and Capacity Building was circulated in December. At present, the period of coverage is 2001, 2002, 2003, partial 2004 and subsequent years. Data is reported from bilateral donors and multilateral/regional Agencies. Dataset - Trade Facililation and Ecomic Development - Assessing the Potential Benefit of Trade Facilitation. A Global Perspective - John S. Wilson, Catherine L. Mann and Tsunehiro Ofsuki, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3224 The relationships between trade facilitation, trade flows, and capacity building are complex and challenging to assess, both empirically and in implementation. The authors measure and estimate the relationship between trade facilitation and trade flows across 75 countries in global trade, considering four important categories: port efficiency, customs environment, regulatory environment, and service sector infrastructure. A gravity model is employed that accounts for bilateral trade flows in manufactured goods in 2000-01 between the 75 countries, using traditional factors such as GDP, distance, language, and trade areas, and is augmented by the trade facilitation measures in the four categories for each country. The results suggest that both imports and exports for a country and for the world will increase with improvements in these trade facilitation measures. Potential gains from trade facilitation reforms are predicted by using the estimated parameters. The gains from trade facilitation are presented by comparing the gains across geographical regions and trade facilitation categories, and by domestic and partner improvements. The total gain in trade flow in manufacturing goods from trade facilitation improvements in all the four areas is estimated to be $377 billion. All regions gain in imports and exports. Most regions gain more in terms of exports than imports, in large part through increasing exports to the OECD market. The most important ingredient in getting these gains, particularly to the OECD market, is the country's own trade facilitation efforts. The detailed presentation of the results of the analysis may help inform policy decisions and capacity building choices.
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Border Crossing and Regulatory Requirements
The World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Database
The World Bank has completed a database on technical barriers to trade and standards, based on a survey of 689 firms in 17 developing countries. The database includes information on both mandatory technical regulations, as well as the use of voluntary standards. The data also include firms' experiences with product testing and their responses to questions regarding mutual recognition agreements. The survey instrument and background description are also available. International Monetary Fund (IMF) - International Finance Statistics (IFS)
International Financial Statistics is a standard source of international statistics on all aspects of international and domestic finance. It reports, for most countries of the world, current data needed in the analysis of problems of international payments and of inflation and deflation, i.e., data on exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, money and banking, interest rates, prices, production, international transactions, government accounts, and national accounts. The IFS includes the CIF to FOB, but no breakdown is available for individual commodities – the measure is an aggregate over all commodity types imported. The CIF/FOB comparison is a simple representation of transaction costs, as it covers total imports of each reporting country. International Exhibition Logistics Associates (IELA)
IELA, a trade association, has prepared average clearance time through customs for 67 countries. The data on customs clearance is collected from local agents in different countries, who report these times to the association based on their experience. The clearance is related to the exhibition in a particular country, and differs from commercial clearance. Trade and Transport Facilitation in Southeast Europe Program (TTFSE)
The TTFSE regional program was established in 1998 with support from the World Bank, the EU, and bilateral partners. As part of the TTFSE Program, all countries involved agreed to measure performance indicators of two types: Data on the performance and efficiency of Customs Administrations in Southeast Europe since 1999 Data on the border crossing times and clearance times, as experienced by users at the TTFSE pilot sites
The Excel workbook provides these data both at a regional level and by pilot site. The methodology entails measurement of processing times at pilot sites, usually on a monthly basis, and of the overall Customs performance on an annual basis. International Road Transport Union (IRU) - Waiting times at borders
Border delays are a costly handicap for trade and tourism. IRU provides a web application with up-to-date information on delays for coaches and trucks at principle border crossings in Central and Eastern Europe, which is designed to provide road transport operators with a practical planning aid. It is updated daily from Monday to Friday, using information supplied by IRU national Member Associations. World Customs Organization (WCO) - Time Release Study
In 2002, the WCO produced a document to provide a methodology to help customs administrations measure the time required for the release of goods (normally from the time of arrival of goods at the port/airport/land border until their release to the importer or a third party on his behalf). The methodology chosen can assist a Customs administration in comparing the results obtained by means of the standardized system with previous studies, especially when introducing changes in Customs procedures. Global Express Association - Country Market and Customs Barriers Reports
The Global Express Association represents the international express delivery companies that serve over 215 countries, carrying over 30 million packages each day, all of them guaranteed to be delivered within specified time frames. The report is a summary of information about 150 countries based on a detailed questionnaire. Questions asked on market access restrictions include restrictions on entry to the express delivery sector, foreign investment, and the use of local services. Questions asked on customs restrictions are categorized into transparency, customs efficiency, and post-release processes.
Back to the top Port Performance Indicators Maersk Sealand
Online business services offer: Schedules by location or vessel, Rates of exchange applicable to shipments, port to port freight rates and surcharges, cutoff times for ports within a country/region, and standard transport statements and certificates. US Department of Transportation (USDOT)
Maritime transport costs, referring only to US and its trade partner countries are available through the “US Import Waterborne Databank" CDs. This includes a detailed breakdown on liner transport charges, import values, the percentage of containerized cargo, total imports carried by liners, and the market share of tramp services. The containerization variable is measured in terms of the weight of goods shipped. Tramp services are defined as bulk and tanker services. Clark, Dollar, Micco (2002) Working Paper on Maritime Transport Costs and Port Efficiency
Form various sources such as Transport Unit of the World Bank (19 countries), Camara maritime y Portuaria de Chile A.G (12 countries), LSU-National Ports and Waterways Institute (4 countries), this study compiles Container Handling Charges (in US$/TEU). Handling costs are the costs of moving containers through ports. They are determined by port efficiency - countries with more efficient seaports have lower handling costs. An acceptable benchmark for container cargo handling in optimal conditions is about $US 100 per container. Back to the top Transport Sector Indicators Statistical Office of The European Communities (EUROSTAT) Transportation Statistics
EUROSTAT maintains several databases on transportation (air, rail, road, oil pipeline, internal waterways and multimodal). These databases provide detailed information on cargo and passenger traffic, including the results of Community questionnaires. Long term indicators include: Volume of freight, passenger transport, Transport growth, and Goods transport. International Road Transport Union (IRU) Road Transport Indices
For 17 European countries, the IRU compiles road transport indices that give estimates of Western European countries’ economic growth, truck registration and transport volumes - indicators that are closely followed in the specialized transport and economic press and by transporters who need to follow the various national trends affecting their operations. International Road Federation (IRF) World Road Statistics
The International Road Federation (IRF) publishes World Road Statistics, available online for its members. Data 1997 to 2001 covering up to 189 countries: road networks; production & export of vehicles; first registration and import of vehicles; vehicles in use; road traffic; multimodal traffic comparisons; motor fuels; road accidents, rates & basis of assessment of road user taxation; examples of taxation for five common categories of motor vehicle; annual receipts from road user taxation; road expenditure. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Statistics Digests
The “Digests of Statistics” contains financial data and summary traffic data for international airports, monthly and yearly statistics for airports open to international traffic, financial data for commercial air carriers, data on fleet and personnel for commercial air carriers, revenue traffic performed for city-pair, annual data of civil aircraft on register, traffic data for commercial airlines, and statistics on the flow of traffic carried from point to point. The digests are available on a commercial basis as well as electronically. International Air Transport Association (IATA)
The International Air Transport Association offers two main statistical publications. “World Air Transport Statistics” contains data on individual IATA member airlines, including number of passengers carried, freight tons carried, kilometers flown for international, domestic and system-wide operations by year, fleet information, aircraft utilization, financial results, number of employees by airline, as well as summary analyses of main trends in passenger and freight traffic. “Custom Statistical Reports” allow customers to order and configure air traffic reports for information on specific markets - passenger or freight-, on specific locations -airports or regions- and for the periods of interest. Regional Outlook provides with highlights on the air transport activity in one specific region for one specific year. Industry Outlook provides with international air traffic figures for one specific year. Airport Outlook provides with international traffic information for one specific airport for one month or one year. Back to the top Services and Information Technology Indicators The WTO Services Database
The WTO Services Database contains the schedules of commitments and lists of Article II (MFN) exemptions of WTO Members. The database is maintained by the Trade in Services Division of the WTO. Only the commitments of countries which were members of WTO prior to 31 December 2004 are included in the database. ICT at a Glance Tables
ICT at a Glance tables compile data from several sources, including the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), World Economic Forum (WEF), Netcraft and the World Bank.
ICT at a Glance tables provide key data on; Country background information, ICT infrastructure and access, Computers and the Internet, ICT expenditures, and ICT business and government environment.
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Database
The World Telecommunication Indicators database includes time series data for 200 economies for 1960, 1965, 1970 and annually from 1975-2003 for around 80 sets of telecommunication indicators covering telephone network size and dimension, mobile services, quality of service, traffic, staff, tariffs, revenue, and investment. Selected demographic, macro-economic, broadcasting, and information technology statistics are also included. OECD Key ICT Indicators
The 15 ICT indicators are drawn from various publications and databases produced by the OECD’s Directorate for Science Technology and Industry (DSTI). They will be updated annually on a rolling basis, as data become available.
Last updated Feb 25, 2009
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