FEBRUARY 2017 ABOUT THE AUTHOR KANIKA Y. TOMLINSON, Jamaica’s Trade Facilitation Task Force: Legal Counsel of the Trade Board Limited, has headed the Trade Facilitation Task Force Involving Public and Private Sectors Secretariat since its formation in February 2015. Her ultimate to Improve Competitiveness goal is to see a tangible transformation in the way Jamaica is taking steps to strengthen its trade environment as a way to Jamaica’s trading environment operates, to benefit local and improve the ease and ways of doing business and stimulate growth. In international traders, lure more investors, and significantly February 2015, Jamaica formed its National Committee on Trade Facilitation, improve the country’s GDP. known as the Trade Facilitation Task Force (TF2). During its first year, the APPROVING MANAGER Task Force had fruitful consultations with its members in the public and Douglas Webster, Acting Trade Administrator/Chief Executive private sectors on how to increase trade facilitation in Jamaica. These Officer of the Trade Board Limited. consultations laid the foundation for the creation of a Trade Facilitation Project Plan, currently in use as a guide for the execution and monitoring of Jamaica’s trade-competitiveness activities. This SmartLesson describes the establishment of the Task Force and the progress of the Project Plan— and shares key lessons learned along the way. BACKGROUND is already under way. The expected macro outcome is that the successful Following the decision to set up a Na- implementation and execution of this tional Committee on Trade Facilitation plan will stimulate appreciable and (NCTF), there came early determina- sustainable growth in the Jamaican tions regarding the strategic path the Task Force would follow to fulfill its economy. Specifically, it is designed to mandate. In the Jamai- 1) reduce the time and cost of cross- can context, the Task Force decided at its first meeting that key deliverables should be the creation of a Road- map and Project Plan that would ultimately serve to guide the pro- cesses for fostering a trade environment that supports transact- ing business. The content of the Roadmap formed the Task Force members at the Roadmap validation in May 2015 basis of the Project included representatives of the government, customs brokers, shippers, and business associations. (Photo courtesy of the Trade Plan. Implementation Board Limited) of the Project Plan SMARTLESSONS — FEBRUARY 2017 1 border operations through improved governance of border regulatory agencies; 2) enhance transparency and efficiency of cross-border formalities; 3) strengthen businesses’ capacity for compliance with international trade procedural 
requirements; and 4) en- able the country to be compliant with the obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade 
 Facilita- tion Agreement (TFA). 
 Key steps leading up to the creation of the Trade Facilitation Project Plan were as follows: • The Roadmap: The Task Force de- cided to draw from the content of 18 existing trade-facilitation The author, Kanika Y. Tomlinson, presents the Trade Facilitation Project Plan studies and reports to produce a to Task Force members in January 2016. (Photo courtesy of the Trade Board roadmap. It also consulted other Limited) studies that the International Trade Centre (ITC) identified. • Cabinet Endorsement: A cabinet decision ac- These studies and reports served to inform the corded support for the Trade Facilitation Proj- content of a roadmap, which the Task Force ect Plan and recognized it as providing direc- members validated at a two-day workshop. tion and a course of action toward realizing a modernized, internationally competitive • The Memorandum of Understanding: The trade regulatory infrastructure in Jamaica. 
 ministers and permanent secretaries of min- istries that are members of the Task Force signed an MOU for the implementation of LESSONS LEARNED trade measures. The MOU required the sig- natories to support trade-facilitation pro- Lesson 1: Determine a clear and tangible cesses to optimize information sharing and mandate for the National Committee on clearly identify the roles and responsibilities Trade Facilitation. of each ministry and/or its departments and agencies. The signatories also agreed to re- The TF2 was established as a designated en- move obstacles to trade facilitation within tity to help drive economic growth in Jamaica each of their organizations without compro- through addressing the challenges the country mising their core functions. faced in establishing a trade-friendly environ- ment. This in turn would help promote Jamaica • International Partners: Several missions from as a competitive logistic hub for Latin America donor partners, such as the World Bank, and the Caribbean. Jamaica’s ratification of the UNCTAD, and the ITC, consulted with Task WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in January Force members and provided technical assis- 2016 and its establishment of the Task Force sig- tance in such areas as training and legislative naled the country’s commitment to establish a drafting. Specifically, the alliances formed competitive trading environment. Thus the Task with our international partners helped in Force received a mandate to map and drive the the creation and validation of the Roadmap, implementation of trade-facilitation measures the preparation of the Project Plan, and the deemed critical to support economic growth and implementation of the activities, such as risk promote competitiveness in Jamaica. assessment, adoption of HS Codes by border agencies, and other projects set out in the The Task Force was also responsible for ensuring Project Plan.
 a coordinated approach across the ministries, de- 2 SMARTLESSONS — FEBRUARY 2017 partments, and agencies of the government of Ja- ments, and agencies of the government as well as maica, particularly in the development of a single private sector institutions involved in trade—in rec- electronic window for trade as well as the imple- ognition that the role of the private sector, which mentation of the provisions under the TFA. Such drives production and trade, was even more im- clear and important mandates gave the NCTF a portant than that of the public sector. Private sec- strong focus and direction. tor entities are the users and beneficiaries of the trading system; thus they are best placed to pin- Lesson 2: Ensure that all relevant stakeholders point the hiccups and challenges and identify im- are included in the composition of the task provements that can be made to address these. As force. a result, all key public and private sector agencies that affect or can be affected by Jamaica’s trading After its establishment, the Task Force’s first major environment were invited to become members of undertaking was to call a meeting of its members. the Task Force (see Table 1). This ensured general It was decided from the outset that the members buy-in and support in fulfilling the mandate of the would include all the relevant ministries, depart- Task Force. Table 1: Members of the Task Force Public Sector Stakeholders Private Sector Stakeholders 1. Ministry of Finance and Planning (now Ministry of 1. Six major business associations: Finance & the Public Service) 
 • Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association 2. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (now Ministry of • Jamaica Exporter’s Association Industry, Commerce, Agriculture 
& Fisheries) 
 • Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica 3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade 
 • Jamaica Chamber of Commerce 4. Ministry of Health 
 • Small Businesses Association of Jamaica • Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises 5. Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSME) Alliance (now Ministry of Energy, Science & Technology) 
 2. Shipping Association of Jamaica 6. Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing (now Ministry of Transport & Mining) 
 3. Jamaica Society of 
Customs Brokers 7. Ministry of National Security 
 4. Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association of Jamaica 8. Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (now Ministry of Industry, Commerce, 
Agriculture & Fisheries) 
 9. Bank of Jamaica 
 10. Bureau of Standards Jamaica 
 11. National Compliance & Regulatory Authority (formerly part of Bureau of Standards of 
Jamaica) 12. JAMPRO (Jamaica’s investment promotion arm) 
 13. The Trade Board Limited 
 14. Jamaica Customs Agency 
 15. Planning Institute of Jamaica 
 16. Port Authority of Jamaica 
 17. Maritime Authority of Jamaica 
 18. Caribbean Maritime Institute 
 19. Attorney General’s Chambers 
 20. Office of the Cabinet 
 Source: Author. SMARTLESSONS — FEBRUARY 2017 3 Lesson 3: It is important to establish a coordinating body to help drive the decisions of the Task Force. The Task Force is led by a chairman and supported by the commissioner of Jamaica Customs Agency, who serves as deputy chairman. The administra- tive arm of the Task Force is its Secre- tariat. The Secretariat is housed at the Trade Board Limited and is responsible for coordinating and managing the implementation of the activities out- lined in the Trade Facilitation Project Plan. Given the large number of stake- holders and the diversity of activities involved, determining a coordinat- ing body responsible for the admin- istrative duties of the Task Force, in the form of a Secretariat, is critical in the scheme of things. The Secretariat works directly with the chairman and deputy chairman of the Task Force and is responsible for coordinating the flow of information among the mem- bers and generally providing support, Director General of the WTO Roberto Azevêdo, General Manager of the facilitating and implementing the de- Shipping Association Trevor Riley, and Chairman of the Task Force Patricia R. cisions of the Task Force. Francis have a discussion at the Task Force meeting in January 2016. (Photo courtesy of the Trade Board Limited) CONCLUSION After being in effect for a year, the Project Plan is already proving its worth. The Jamaica Customs Agency has expedited the process by optimiz- ing and simplifying procedures and introducing a paperless environment, non-redundant processes, and risk- based interventions. It has done so through implementation of ASYCU- DA1 World System, an IT-based system that interfaces with all border agen- cies, making applications for licenses and permits electronic. The results are faster clearance times, no paper, and an easier and more efficient business process. ASYCUDA is being integrated into a Port Community System, which man- P. Terence Leonard, ASYCUDA World Implementation Adviser, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, addresses participants at the Roadmap validation in May 2015. (Photo courtesy of the Trade Board Limited) 1 ASYCUDA = Automated SYstem for CUstoms DAta. 4 SMARTLESSONS — FEBRUARY 2017 ages and automates port and logistics processes through a single submission of data connecting transport and lo- gistics chains. Once this integration is completed, a modern and effective trade and logistics platform will ben- efit the business community as well as trade in Jamaica. Jamaica is also in the final stages of creating an agreement with the World Bank to develop a trade portal to make all regulatory trade-related informa- tion readily available in a single inte- grated website. The aim is transparency and predictability of trade procedures, which should increase the compliance level and reduce the time and cost of doing business for trade. Our experience with establishing the Task Force and drafting the Project Plan may be of value to teams attempt- ing to improve the trade environment and business competitiveness of other countries. Having an unequivocal man- date, a clear strategy, and broad sup- port made all the difference. DISCLAIMER SmartLessons is an awards program to share lessons learned in development-oriented advisory services and investment operations. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of IFC or its partner organizations, the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. IFC does not assume any responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the information contained in this document. Please see the terms and conditions at www.ifc.org/ smartlessons or contact the program at smartlessons@ifc.org. SMARTLESSONS — FEBRUARY 2017 5