Maur, Jean-Christophe2012-05-252012-05-252008-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6463This paper investigates when trade facilitation reform should be undertaken at the regional level. First, looking at both efficiency and implementation considerations, it confirms the perception that the regional dimension matters. Investigating where efficiency gains can be made, this research explains why national markets alone fail to produce the full scale economies and positive externalities of trade facilitation reform. Second, because trade facilitation policies need to address coordination and capacity failures, and because of the operational complexity challenge, the choice of the adequate platform for delivering reform is crucial. The lessons are that regional trade agreements offer good prospects of comprehensive and effective reform and can effectively complement multilateral and national initiatives. However, examples of implementation of trade facilitation reform in regional agreements do not seem to indicate that regional integration approaches have been more successful than trade facilitation through specific cooperation agreements or other efforts, multilateral or unilateral. Customs unions may be an exception here, and the author suggests reasons why this could be the case.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS ROADSADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURESAIRAIR TRAFFICAIR TRANSPORTAIRPORTAIRPORT HUBSAIRPORTSBORDER CROSSINGBORDER CROSSINGSBORDER DELAYSBORDER MANAGEMENTBORDER PROTECTIONCARRIERSCOLLECTIVE ACTIONCOMMERCIAL EXCHANGESCOMMON MARKETCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE PRESSURESCONFORMITY ASSESSMENTCOOPERATION AGREEMENTSCOST OF TRANSPORTCRIMINAL PROCEDURESCUSTOMS AUTHORITIESCUSTOMS CODESCUSTOMS DUTIESCUSTOMS INTEGRITYCUSTOMS OFFICERSCUSTOMS PROCEDURESCUSTOMS SERVICESCUSTOMS UNIONCUSTOMS UNIONSCUSTOMS VALUATIONDESTINATION COUNTRYDISPUTE SETTLEMENTDOMESTIC INDUSTRYDOMESTIC TRANSPORTDRIVINGDUE PROCESSECONOMIES OF SCALEELECTRONIC CUSTOMSELECTRONIC SYSTEMELECTRONIC SYSTEMSENFORCEMENT MECHANISMSEUROPEAN UNIONEXPORT COSTSEXPORT MARKETSEXTERNAL TARIFFEXTERNAL TRADEEXTERNALITIESFINANCIAL SERVICESFIXED COSTSFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTFREIGHTFREIGHT FORWARDERFREIGHT TRANSPORTGEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITYINCOME COUNTRIESINCREASING COMPETITIONINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURE POLICIESINSPECTIONINSPECTION OF GOODSINTEGRATION AGREEMENTSINTER-COUNTRY EXTERNALITIESINTERNAL MARKETINTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTSINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITYINTERNATIONAL COOPERATIONINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATIONINTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSINTERNATIONAL RULESINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTINTERNATIONAL TREATIESJOINT VENTUREJURISDICTIONLANDLOCKED COUNTRIESLEGAL INSTRUMENTSLEGAL REGIMESLEGAL SYSTEMSLETTERS OF CREDITLIBERALIZATION OF TRADEMARGINAL COSTMARITIME TRANSPORTMARKET ACCESSMARKET FAILURESMARKET SOLUTIONSMOBILITYMODE OF TRANSPORTMODES OF TRANSPORTMOTOR VEHICLEMULTILATERAL APPROACHMULTILATERAL CONTEXTMULTILATERAL EFFORTSMULTILATERAL LEVELMULTILATERAL TRADEMULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONSMUTUAL RECOGNITIONMUTUAL UNDERSTANDINGNATIONAL BORDERSNATIONAL MARKETSNATIONAL TREATMENTNEIGHBORING COUNTRIESNON-TARIFF BARRIERSPOLICEPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLITICAL POINT OF VIEWPORT AUTHORITYPORT OF DESTINATIONPORT OF ENTRYPREFERENTIAL TRADEPREFERENTIAL TREATMENTPUBLIC GOODSRAILRAIL NETWORKRAIL SYSTEMSRAIL TRANSITRAILROADSRAILWAYSREGIONAL ACCREDITATION BODIESREGIONAL AGREEMENTSREGIONAL APPROACHREGIONAL APPROACHESREGIONAL COOPERATIONREGIONAL DEVELOPMENTREGIONAL GROUPINGSREGIONAL HARMONIZATIONREGIONAL INITIATIVESREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL INTEGRATION AGREEMENTSREGIONAL INTERVENTIONREGIONAL LEVELREGIONAL MARKETSREGIONAL SOLUTIONSREGIONAL STANDARDSREGIONAL TRADEREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTSREGIONAL TRANSITREGIONAL TRANSPORTREGIONALISMREGULATORY COMPETITIONREGULATORY COOPERATIONRESTRICTIVE REGULATIONSROADROAD CONDITIONSROAD INFRASTRUCTUREROAD TRANSPORTROAD USERROAD USER FEESROUTEROUTESRULES OF ORIGINSCALE ECONOMIESTARIFF REDUCTIONSTARIFF STRUCTURESTAXTAX REVENUETECHNICAL BARRIERSTECHNICAL REGULATIONSTRADE BARRIERSTRADE CONCESSIONSTRADE CREATIONTRADE DIVERSIONTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FACILITATION ISSUESTRADE FACILITATION MEASURESTRADE FACILITATION SERVICESTRADE FLOWSTRADE INTEGRATIONTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE NEGOTIATIONSTRADE REGIMETRADE TRANSACTIONTRADING PARTNERSTRAINSTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSITTRANSIT CORRIDORSTRANSIT OPERATIONSTRANSIT ROUTESTRANSIT SERVICESTRANSIT SYSTEMSTRANSIT TRADETRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT FACILITATIONTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT NETWORKTRANSPORT OF GOODSTRANSPORT SECTORTRANSPORT SERVICESTRANSPORTATIONTRUCKSTRUEVEHICLE INSURANCEVEHICLESWORKING CAPITALWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4464