Intervention:
Supporting trade facilitation in Saint Lucia
Context
The ICR Facility has received a request for support from the Ministry of Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs of Saint Lucia. Saint-Lucia is thoroughly committed to trade facilitation reform and modernization efforts. As part of its trade facilitation agenda, the country has identified the need to undertake a Time Release Study as a priority initiative, which would not only provide meaningful insights on the clearance of goods’ processes but also be a positive step towards the effective implementation of the trade logistics platform through customs clearance process mapping.
Objective
Saint Lucia embarked on the undertaking and completion of a Time Release Study (TRS) in 2022 as part of its endeavours to improve its trading environment as well as to meet its international obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (WTO TFA).
Description
The Time Release Study allows countries to measure the time taken by all involved stakeholders in the clearance of goods’ process to release cargo. The TRS undertaken at the Castries Seaport in Saint-Lucia focused its attention on the importation of all commodities, excepting personal effects importation, non-commercial petroleum products and ozone depletion linked commodities. In terms of the processes measured, the TRS concentrated its efforts on the Customs and Excise Department (CED) and Saint-Lucia Air and Sea Port Authority (SLASPA).
Besides providing the international and national trading community with the average clearance times at the Port of Castries, the TRS also enabled Saint-Lucia to undertake initial process mapping related to the Customs and Port clearance processes. This process mapping will prove useful for future business process optimization and digitization efforts such as the establishment of the planned Saint-Lucia National Single Window Platform.
Results
-The TRS final report was finalised in December 2022
-A press release was issued in January 2023
Further Information
Ministry of Trade of Saint Lucia
Time Release Study (TRS) Guide
Project Deliverables
