Significant improvement in India’s score in United Nation’s Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation

Source- PIb

What is the news?

India has made substantial progress in UNESCAP’s Global Survey on Digital & Sustainable Trade Facilitation with a 90.32 percent score.

Introduction
  • India has made significant progress in the ease of cross-border trade as per the latest UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.
  • As per the Survey, India’s ranking has improved from 78.49 percent in 2019 to 90.32 percent in 2021.
    • India is the best-performing country in the South and southwest Asia region and in the Asia Pacific region.
    • Moreover, India’s overall score is greater than the EU average score and some OCED countries.

India’ performance 

MeasuresIn 2021 [in percentage]In 2019 [in percentage]
Transparency10093.33
Formalities95.8387.5
Institutional arrangement and cooperation88.8966.67
Paperless trade96.381.48
Cross-border paperless trade66.6755.56
About the UN survey-
  • The Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation is conducted every two years by UNESCAP.
  • The 2021 Survey includes an assessment of 58 trade facilitation measures covered by the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Steps taken by India to improve cross border trade

The Government has implemented a number of measures to speed up processes for customs clearance, such as-

  • Turant Customs [Faster customs] – The flagship ‘Turant Customs’ program of the CBIC [Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs] brings faceless, paperless, and contactless customs. This has had a direct impact in terms of the improvement in the ranking of India.
  • Facilitate trade in times of emergencies – During the pandemic, Customs formations have made all efforts to expedite COVID-19 related imports. A single dedicated window COVID-19, a 24*7 helpdesk for EXIM TRADE, has been established on the CBIC website to assist importers in quickly resolving issues.
Way forward

The improvement in cross-border trade facilitation is a promising sign of post-pandemic economic recovery since the higher score for a country aids businesses in their investment decisions.

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