The coverage of trade facilitation is found to have become very extensive, with the details of provisions in some agreements matching that in the draft WTO agreement on trade facilitation. Trade facilitation provisions and principles are increasingly seen to apply not only to Customs procedures...

This paper presents findings from an initial analysis of new non-tariff trade cost estimates and their determinants, based on a bilateral database of comprehensive trade cost maintained by ESCAP. Results of the non-tariff policy-related trade costs modeling exercise strongly suggest that...

The authors use newly collected data on trade and production in 178 countries to infer estimates of trade costs in agriculture and manufactured goods for the 1995-2010 period

Trade facilitation (the simplification and harmonization of import, export, and transit procedures) including paperless trade (the use and exchange of electronic data and documents to support the trade transaction process), has taken increasing importance as evidenced by the WTO Trade...

International trade has been a major engine for economic growth and development in Asia and the Pacific. However, overall trade costs remain excessively high in many developing countries of the region. Part I of this publication provides an overview of trade costs in Asia and the Pacific, based...