The postal export programme, Exporta Fácil, is seeing such phenomenal growth in Brazil and Peru that organizations involved in aid for trade, together with financial backers, are sitting up and taking note.
This was the message that came across loud and clear at the Exporta Fácil workshop, held this week at UPU headquarters during the 2010 Postal Operations Council session, which aimed to highlight the impact of this one-of-a-kind mechanism.
In Brazil, for example, export volumes in 2009 totalled 184 million US dollars (30 million in 2001), thus allowing thousands of micro, small and medium-sized local enterprises to use the postal network to export their products at affordable prices.
“We know that from now on, when organizations talk of trade facilitation, Posts must be included,” says Jan Hoffman, head of trade facilitation at the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD).
UNCTAD was among the many participants in the workshop, together with the World Trade Organization, the International Trade Centre, the World Bank and several large postal operators such as the United States Postal Service, La Poste France, Royal Mail and China Post. Much was made of the positive impact on countries’ other economic sectors and the easier process for traders.
“We believe the Exporta Fácil project is a benchmark in aid for trade facilitation,” said Matthew Wilson, economist at the World Trade Organization. The postal project was presented at the Global Review of Aid for Trade in 2009 and will be laid out more fully in 2012.
Originally a pioneering initiative from the Brazilian Government, Exporta Fácil has been rolled out in a number of South American countries since its inception in 1999. It facilitates low-cost exports of goods through the postal network and cuts the red tape for traders. Brazil said it was prepared to make all the methodology required for the implementation of Exporta Fácil available to member countries requesting it. A draft guide is being prepared.