Bolivia develops its capacities to implement the WCO Time Release Study

By PPO Abogados

As part of the national work plan for Bolivia, the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) delivered a Time Release Study (TRS) National Workshop from 29 August to 2 September 2022 in Bolivia to build capacities to undertake a Time Release Study.

During this mission, the 25 participants from the Customs Administration and the relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors of Bolivia increased their understanding of the implementation of the TRS and became acquainted with the benefits and challenges of implementing such a tool.

Participants were highly motivated, and important progress was made toward undertaking the TRS in Bolivia. By the end of the mission, the Bolivian participants had worked on mapping the business processes for the TRS, and an implementation roadmap was completed and presented.

The WCO Time Release Study is a unique tool and method for measuring the actual performance of Customs activities as they directly relate to trade facilitation at the border. The TRS thereby measures relevant aspects of the effectiveness of operational procedures that are carried out by Customs and other regulatory actors in the standard processing of imports, exports and in transit movements. It seeks to accurately measure these elements of trade flows so that related decisions to improve such performance can be well conceived and thereby carried out.