AMMAN -- A newly-launched survey identified several trade barriers that still exist in Jordan and considered by businesses as restrictions on import and export transactions.
According to the survey of trade barriers and facilitation mechanisms conducted by the USAID fiscal reform project, trading businesses still have difficulty in obtaining from border control agencies information related to legislations, regulations, instructions, procedures, duties and customs among others.
The survey, which interviewed 102 businesses that trade in main commodities, listed Jordan Customs Department (JCD), Institute for Standards and Metrology, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Aqaba Ports Corporation as the government agencies that, most frequently, are difficult to obtain information from.
The study, launched at a special ceremony attended by Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour and JCD Director Ghaleb Sarayreh among other officials, recommended that the government makes all relevant trade information available through one or more publicly accessible websites and to establish one or more inquiry points to answer trade queries in a reasonable time.
According to the survey, conducted between July and August of last year, the commercial sector complained that the government does not consult it appropriately when it issues or amends legislations, regulations or instructions suggesting to set-up formal mechanisms to increase coordination and consultation between public and private sectors.
Advance ruling mechanisms by government trade agencies' are either missing or nonbinding, according to the findings of the study, which said lack of such mechanisms narrow down the scope of trading activities.
Traders also complained of the long time it takes to appeal government decisions due to the absence of independent appeal or impartial committees in addition to the lack of technical qualifications in certain issues.
The survey mentioned that businesses have low confidence in goods' laboratory testing, routinely requested by trade agencies, due to relatively long time to complete testing procedures, excessive testing requests and lack of appropriate equipment and qualified personnel.
"The trading sector also complained about the long time public agencies take to complete trade-related formalities," the study showed, suggesting trade transactions should be reengineered with appropriate use of risk management.
Businesses have difficulties in estimating the expenses and fees related to trade transactions, other than customs duties, according to the survey, which highlighted that traders talked about duplications in trade documents submitted to various public agencies.
Speaking at the launch ceremony of the study, Abu Hammour stressed that removing trade barriers is a government priority, noting that it is also the responsibility of both the public and private sectors.
Over the past decade, since Jordan started to join regional and international free trade agreements, the government has worked to boost the investment environment through developing legislations and regulations governing trade activities, he said.
He indicated that the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business 2010 report showed that exporting a container from Jordan takes around 17 days. After examining this figure, it became evident that the private sector, such as banks, transporation and customs clearnace firms, traders and ports, spend 11 days to complete their procedures, while public agencies take six days to complete trading measures.
"World Bank figures about Jordan show that reducing exportation measures by only one day can boost the gross domestic product by $116 million a year," Abu Hammour said.
Sarayreh stressed that removing trade barriers have always been a priority for the customs department despite challenges that include increasing demands to impose monitoring on imported and exported goods due to issues related to health, envorinment and security.
He underscored that the department will continue to search for innovative solutions and researches to solve economic diificulties in a bid to enhance the Kingdom's ranking in international business reports.
Ruba Jaradat, USAID representative, indicated that World Bank reports showed that time invloved in exportation went down between 2008 and 2010 by five days, from 19 day to 14 days, while time to involved in import activities went down from 22 days to 14 days.
This reduction in time for the trade activities, according to Jaradat, resulted in a $600 million to $900 million increase in the gross domestic product.
© Jordan Times 2011
