GENEVA, Switzerland – National Trade Facilitation Committees help governments and businesses work together to make cross-border trade faster, cheaper and more predictable. A new UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) study shows they are increasingly important for keeping goods moving through shocks, but warns that weak monitoring can make reforms look more advanced than they are and slow progress where it matters most: at borders, ports and trade corridors.

During periods of global disruption, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the more recent supply chain shocks, and geopolitical tensions, countries with stronger trade facilitation frameworks have better performed to maintain trade flows and respond to operational challenges.