TIR Convention to fuel multimodal trade flows

Convention, and this is one of the opportunities that is available for Oman to implement in the future. And IRU is a very good partner for us, because they have worked with countries to implement these conventions, and those conventions facilitate trade — saving time and cost in transport and trade.”

The Oman Logistics Centre, said Naula, is working very hard in the implementation of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) trade facilitation agreement. The Sultanate is a member country of the WTO, he noted.

The agreement will help facilitate trade from the standpoint of speedier customs clearance, he pointed out. “How can we avoid having goods waiting for some documentation or inspection? How can we streamline all these activities, so legitimate trade can flow freely without disturbance or inspection? One of the things we are trying to put in place control procedures, which are vital for any country to safeguard its vital interests like tax collection, product safety, and so on. These control procedures can be done before the arrival of the goods or after the release of the goods, with minimum delays at border crossing points.”

Measures implemented by the government, based on the recommendations of the Oman Logistics Centre, are already having a positive impact on the ground, according to Naula. “One of the initiatives that we began about a year ago is on preclearance — where goods can be customs cleared even before their arrival of the goods. Already 18 per cent of sea shipments are precustoms cleared, which means they don’t have to wait when arriving at the port. It has been estimated by the World Bank that a saving of one day in goods transport can increase trade by one per cent. So if we can cut 2-3 days on the average dwell time at ports, we may be able to increase trade by 2-3 per cent, which will be beneficial for the country.”