The Sudanese Trade Facilitation Committee agreed on an action plan to implement trade facilitation reforms. They will be assisted by UNCTAD, the World Customs Organization and the United Kingdom.
UNCTAD, the World Customs Organization, the United Kingdom's tax and customs authority and Sudan's National Trade Facilitation Committee held a two-day trade facilitation workshop in Khartoum, from 2 to 3 December 2015.
Close to 100 representatives from government trade agencies and private trade associations attended the workshop. They worked together to update the National Trade Facilitation Plan UNCTAD had developed with the government in 2013, and to devise a strategy to move forward with implementing the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement in the country.
 Our impression is that it was one of the most successful workshops on trade facilitation held in Sudan because it came out with concrete outcomes. Mr. Ali Adam Chair of Sudan National Trade Facilitation Committee |
The strategy will leverage UNCTAD's experience strengthening National Trade Facilitation Committees and the World Customs Organization's tools for customs modernization. While UNCTAD will organize a series of capacity building workshops next year for the National Trade Facilitation Committee, the World Custom's Organization will work with customs and other appropriate agencies at the border to put in place necessary reforms.
Sudan's National Trade Facilitation Committee was established in 2009 to coordinate the work of border agencies and put in place trade facilitation measures based on international standards.
Although Sudan is not yet a member of the World Trade Organization, the country is committed to implementing the provisions included in the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
This work is being carried out by UNCTAD and the World Customs Organization as part of their joint three-year capacity building project, funded by the United Kingdom. The project's objective is to help developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement.
