Context: India's score in UNESCAP's Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation saw a remarkable jump from 78.49% in 2019 to 90.32% in 2021.

• The UNESCAP’s latest Global Survey has said that India’s score has risen significantly in the United Nation’s Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.
• The report is published once in two years.

Key highlights

• India's overall score higher than many OECD countries, EU region average.
• India scored 90.32% in UN's Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2021 as compared to 78.49% in 2019.
• India scored better than many OECD countries such as Norway, Finland, UK and EU region average.

The Survey has highlighted India's significant improvement in the scores on all 5 key indicators, as follows

• 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)

India has achieved a 100 per cent score for the transparency index and 66 per cent in the “Women in trade” component

• The overall score of India has also been found to be greater than many OECD countries including France, UK, Canada, Norway, Finland, etc and the overall score is greater than the average score of EU.

The customs were lauded

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) introduced reforms under the umbrella of ‘Turant’ Customs to usher in a faceless, paperless and contactless Customs.
• This has had a direct impact in terms of the improvement in the UNESCAP rankings on digital and sustainable trade facilitation.
• Further, “during the Covid-19 pandemic, Customs formations have made all efforts to expedite Covid-related imports such as oxygen-related equipments, life-saving medicines, vaccines, etc.
• A dedicated single window Covid-19 24/7 helpdesk for EXIM trade was created on the CBIC website to facilitate quick resolution of issue(s) faced by importers.

About the Survey

• The Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation is conducted every two years by United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific.
• The 2021 Survey includes an assessment of 58 trade facilitation measures covered by the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.
• The Survey is keenly awaited globally as it evidences whether or not the trade facilitation measures being taken have the desired impact and helps draw comparison amongst countries.
• A higher score for a country also helps businesses in their investment decisions.

By: Shubham Tiwari