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 

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.