Trade Briefs

TOAM: a tool to identify and tackle trade barriers

ITC’s Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism (TOAM) reports and tackles trade barriers faced by small and medium-sized businesses.
 

How can the Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism work for you?

• Report and inform: Companies can report online the obstacles they face when exporting or importing.
• Dispatch automatic alerts: National authorities and trade operators will be mutually alerted about the obstacles reported and the responses provided.
• Monitor progress: Policymakers and trade support institutions can access an up-to-date information database on the obstacles  faced by the  private sector and put in place the appropriate policies.

What are the Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism components?

• An online platform connecting companies and fostering the exchange of information about trade regulations and procedures between the private and public sectors.
• An institutional network ensuring the cooperation of different actors involved in the identification and resolution of problems reported through the online platform.

What are the impacts?

• Improving the business environment and regional economic integration by simplifying the flow of information between the public and private sectors.
• Assisting national and regional authorities in the design of trade facilitation policies.
• Providing the public and private sectors with the trainings and equipment needed to deepen the understanding of regulatory and procedural obstacles.

Trade Briefs: The Global State of Trade.

The International Trade Centre’s monthly Trade Briefs series brings together the most recent ITC data and research and presents it in a user-friendly, customizable, web-based format.

Each issue explores monthly variations in goods exports across countries, regions, and sectors, and reports on changes in market access conditions linked to temporary trade measures and notifications of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The series also features other trade data such as services exports, investment flows, export potential, and voluntary sustainability standards, and showcases trade-related research from ITC and other institutions.

The monthly briefs aim to support the trade policy debate by providing reliable, timely, and useful information to policymakers, trade journalists, and the wider trade community.