UN’s Survey On Digital And Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2021:
India has scored 90.32% in United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific’s (UNESCAP) Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.
- This is a remarkable jump from 78.49% in 2019.
- The survey is conducted every two years by UNESCAP and includes an assessment of 58 trade facilitation measures covered by the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.
- 58 measures include publications of existing import-export rules on the internet, risk management, advance ruling on tariff classification, pre-arrival processing, independent appeal mechanism, expedited shipments, automated customs system, among others.
- A higher score for a country helps businesses in their investment decisions.
- The UN Regional Commissions jointly conduct the UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.
- The Survey currently covers 143 economies around the globe. For Asia Pacific, it is conducted by UNESCAP.
- It pointed out India’s improvement in the scores on all five key indicators.
- Transparency: 100% in 2021 (from 93.33% in 2019)
- Formalities: 95.83% in 2021 (from 87.5% in 2019)
- Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation: 88.89% in 2021 (from 66.67% in 2019)
- Paperless Trade: 96.3% in 2021 (from 81.48% in 2019).
- Cross-Border Paperless Trade: 66.67% in 2021 (from 55.56% in 2019).
