ABSTRACT
'Trade facilitation is about easing access to the global marketplace', commented Angel Gurria, Secretary General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Trade facilitation also brings about potential employment gains. Online payment instruments such as PayPal, using simple mouse clicks and the swift remittance of money by banking networks, enable an international trading transaction to take mere minutes. In the case of promulgating the Non-tariff Measures (NTMs) regulation, a trader could perceive the NTM itself as a regulatory obstacle; in the case of complying with the NTM regulation, however, the trader would substantially experience the procedural obstacles. Procedural obstacles closely correlate with the performance of customs. 'Every international trade transaction involves at least two customs interventions, one at export and one at import. The international community has embarked on taking measures to overcome procedural obstacles.
