Customs and Trade Facilitation Program (CTF)

The Customs and Trade Facilitation Programme is responsible for supporting seamless, efficient and predictable movement of goods across the Northern Corridor by addressing customs, procedural and other trade-related barriers.

Its policy basis is especially strong in the NCTTA, which requires Member States to facilitate the rapid movement of goods and persons through simplification and harmonisation of documentation and procedures, while also working toward eradication of customs fraud and tax evasion.

The objectives of the programme are to:

  • Remove non-tariff barriers to trade;
  • Reduce the cost of doing business.

In practical terms, the programme therefore covers:

  • identification, reporting and elimination of NTBs;
  • customs procedures and transit systems;
  • customs-data exchange;
  • Single Customs Territory matters;
  • border-clearance processes;
  • Joint Border Committees;
  • One Stop Border Posts;
  • harmonisation and simplification of trade documentation;
  • coordination among customs administrations and regulatory agencies;
  • trade-facilitation capacity building;
  • implementation of AfCFTA-related trade-facilitation measures;
  • stakeholder engagement on movement of cargo.