While the African continent has experienced rapid growth in trade over recent decades, intra-African trade has lagged due to low levels of trade facilitation and industrialization.

Many studies have identified impediments to trade growth and competitiveness in Africa and found that while movement along major highways is relatively fast, time is lost at the ports, at borders, and at checkpoints established along corridors.

Infrastructure development is central to facilitating intra-regional trade and the movement of people, goods and services and hence to promoting regional integration as articulated in the AU Agenda 2063. In 2012, the AU adopted the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and its associated Priority Action Plan (PAP) prioritizing continental programs to address the infrastructure deficit that severely hampers Africa’s competitiveness in the global market. One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) are central to implementation of transport projects in PIDA-PAP and enhanced interconnectivity of markets as well as regional integration on the continent.

The OSBP concept refers to the legal and institutional framework, facilities, and associated procedures that enable goods, people, and vehicles to stop in a single facility in which they undergo necessary controls following applicable regional and national laws to exit one state and enter the adjoining state. Currently, more than 80 OSBPs have been planned and/or implemented in various parts of Africa as a means of reducing the time and costs of delays at border crossings along major corridors. However, as of 2016, not all OSBPs that have been constructed are fully functional.

While the 1st edition of the OSBP Sourcebook – published in September 2011 – proved to be a unique and useful tool for implementers of OSBPs, there was a need to update this reference so that implementers can learn from current knowledge, experience, and good practices rather from knowledge from a few years ago. The 2nd edition of the OSBP Sourcebook aims to meet this need.

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The One-Stop Border Post Concept

Introduction

One of the modern approaches for improving border operations is the establishment of one-stop border posts (OSBPs). In the 2000s the OSBP concept began to be applied across Africa. In 2004, the East African Community (EAC) together with the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority developed the East African Transport and Trade Facilitation Project, which among other activities, called for the development of OSBPs in the region. The Chirundu OSBP – serving Zambia and Zimbabwe – is considered the first fully functional OSBP in Africa. Following the launch of the Chirundu OSBP, with the support of development partners, the concept and development of OSBPs has expanded rapidly with the support of development partners as one of the major tools to tackle impediments to the growth of trade in Africa. More than 80 OSBPs/joint border posts (JBPs) on the continent are now at the planning or implementation stage.

Definition

As a trade facilitation tool applied at borders, the OSBP concept promotes a coordinated and integrated approach to facilitating trade, the movement of people, and improving security. The concept eliminates the need for travelers and goods to stop twice to undertake border crossing formalities. The OSBP concept calls for the application of joint controls to minimize routine activities and duplications. Through a “whole of government” approach, the OSBP concept reduces the journey time for transporters and travelers, and shortens the clearance time at border crossing points.

The Four Pillars of OSBPs

The OSBP concept consists of four pillars:

1. Legal and Institutional Framework: Under international law, it is generally agreed that the application of national laws is limited to the territory of a state. As a consequence, OSBPs rely on the principle of extraterritorial application of laws, which allows a state to extend the application of specific national laws outside its own territory. Implementation of OSBPs, therefore, demands that a detailed analysis of the legislative, regulatory and institutional framework governing the operations of border agencies is undertaken. At a typical border post, there are several government agencies that are responsible for border controls. For efficient and effective OSBP operations, these agencies need to operate in a coordinated manner to minimize duplications and redundancies.

2. Simplification and Harmonization of Procedures: Implementing an OSBP without simplifying and harmonizing border crossing procedures renders an OSBP ineffective. Whereas users would be required to stop once in order to undertake exit and entry formalities at a border, subjecting such users to routine and redundant formalities would have little impact on reducing the time spent at the border. The process of reviewing and aligning procedures should be continuous in order to ensure that OSBPs operate with border crossing procedures that are not only effective but also facilitative and relevant to the prevailing circumstances. Joint operations and the need to observe jurisdiction in an OSBP environment require specific considerations when crafting OSBP procedures.

3. ICT and Data Exchange: ICT is a critical component of collaborative single window systems, simplification of documentation, border management, and modernization of customs, immigration, and related services. The increase in the number of travelers along with increases in volumes of vehicular traffic and cargo at borders requires a strategic balance between controls and facilitation. ICT allows for the efficient use of limited resources to manage borders by facilitating intra/interconnectivity of agencies for implementing responsive risk management systems and for understanding mobility and trade patterns.

4. Hard Infrastructure: This includes OSBP facilities such as offices for border officials, operational equipment, warehouses, and parking. While all border posts require physical facilities for border operations, the level of facilities required depends on the type and size of operations at a border post. In principle, facilities for OSBP operations should be appropriately functional and not unnecessarily elaborate (“gold-plated”) or inadequate.

The Rationale and Benefits of OSBPs

Corridor and Value Chain Approach to Establishing OSBPs

One important factor for evaluating the performance and determining the attractiveness of a transport corridor is the efficiency of border crossing points along a corridor. Transit-related controls along a corridor occur at three main control points: seaports or airports, land border crossing points between countries, and at inland clearance facilities. In this regard, land border crossing points serve as nodes that link different points along a corridor and are vital for international trade. By facilitating international trade and cross-border movement of people, border crossing points contribute to the growth of national, regional, and international economies. The situation is particularly acute for landlocked countries in Africa, a continent where border delays and transport costs are among the highest in the world. In addition, depending on the level of interdependence, the social and economic welfare of people living in border communities is also affected by border operations.

Selecting and Prioritizing OSBP Projects along Corridors

Linking border crossing points into global value chains can either be through forward linkages (where the country provides inputs into exports of other countries) or through backward linkages (where the country imports intermediate products to be used in its exports). In choosing border crossing points to convert to OSBPs, consideration should be given to corridors that have the potential for contributing to the economic transformation of the areas they serve. These border crossings may either be greenfield projects or existing (“brownfield”) ones that require upgrades to be efficient. Further, consideration should be given to border crossings along corridors that serve areas with significant industrial, commercial, and other economic activities and/or potential. Consideration should also be given to corridors that have high potential for traffic growth. Along a corridor, border crossings may be similarly prioritized, but considering that a multi-country corridor may operate as an integrated system, it may be necessary to develop all border crossings along a corridor, concurrently or otherwise sequentially. In addition, traffic diversion effects among complex corridors, such as the North-South Corridor in Southern Africa (which traverses eight countries), may need to be taken into account.

The Rationale for and Purpose of Establishing OSBPs

The major reason for establishing OSBPs along transport corridors is to expedite the movement of goods and people, and to reduce transport costs across national boundaries. At an OSBP, travelers and vehicles stop once for undertake border crossing formalities to exit one country and enter the other. All border formalities and the processing of documentation for goods and travel are carried out in a single clearance hall for exiting one country and entering the adjacent country. If cargo inspection is required, it is done once through a joint inspection involving all the necessary agencies of both countries at the same time.

For passenger cars and buses, the introduction of OSBP procedures almost immediately cuts border processing time in half. For example, at a traditional two-stop border, buses stop at one side of the border and the passengers go into the border facility for processing. Luggage and cargo are offloaded and inspected as needed. This may take 1-2 hours, after which the bus is driven to the other side of the border and the same processing is repeated for another 1-2 hours. In contrast, in an OSBP passengers enter one facility for exit and entry formalities. Cargo is offloaded once and is inspected jointly. In an OSBP, the clearance of passengers and their luggage is typically done in less than an hour.

Border controls for cargo in a traditional two-stop border post can take as long as 3-5 days for various reasons. Trucks used for commercial cargo have daily fixed costs of USD 200-500 (Southern Africa estimate). Therefore, delays of three to five days represent USD 600-2,500 in unnecessary transport costs. These added costs directly affect the cost and competitiveness of African commodities in international markets as well as the cost of imports to consumers and inputs to manufacturers. A second cost derived from border delays and poor facilitation along the route is high inventory costs. For goods worth from USD 2,000-5,000 per ton, the cost of increased inventory is USD 0.75-2.50 per day per ton. Manufacturers and retailers report ordering an additional month ahead to account for the lack of predictability of delivery. For a 28-ton truckload, this implies USD 630-2,100 in unnecessary logistics cost.

Legal and Regulatory Framework for OSBPs

The General Legal Environment and the Specific Legal Concept of OSBPs

OSBPs need to rely on a well-functioning legal system, nationally and regionally. It is not possible to put into place the entire national and regional legal and regulatory frameworks for the purpose of operationalizing OSBPs – only specific issues can be addressed. Thus, there are some set or given parameters for the legal/regulatory framework of an OSBP that probably cannot be changed for the purpose of establishing the OSBP. These parameters may vary from country to country and from region to region.

The OSBP concept envisaged for any border post requires additional legal authority beyond that which is provided by current legislation for two reasons. First, it will entail the performance of border controls by various officers (the core activity) of one state in terms of its national laws extraterritorially in another state. Second, a legal mandate is required for hosting arrangements of that state’s border control officers who will operate in terms of their own national laws within the territory of the other state.

Legislative/Regulatory Approaches/Formulas

Multilateral/Regional Legal Instruments

Ideally, the operationalization of an OSBP should be pursued in accordance with multilateral/regional instruments promoting the single-stop border clearance procedure. At least an overarching regional legislative basis is recommended for common OSBP subject matter, i.e., subject matter that is the same and does not differ according to the country pairs or border crossings involved. Harmonization is an important facilitation factor. In addition, a regional approach can take into account the interests of third countries located along a transport corridor.

Built on the regional legislation, national and local laws and regulations can be issued or adopted. Concrete cases of such a regional approach include: (i) UEMOA Regulation No. 15/2009/CM/UEMOA Portant Regime Juridique des Postes de Contrôle Juxtaposes aux Frontieres des Etats Membres de L’Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine; (ii) ECOWAS Supplementary Act/SA.1/07/13 Relating to the Establishment and Implementation of the Joint Border Posts Concept within Member States of the Economic Community of West African States, June, 2013; and (iii) the EAC One Stop Border Posts Act 2013 and EAC One Stop Border Posts Regulations 2013. The other RECs in Africa do not (yet) have such well-developed legal and regulatory frameworks.

Where the option is offered by the constitutional regime of a REC, secondary regional legislation, either directly applicable to the member states or not, is recommended because it harmonizes the OSBP legal framework to a large extent.

Bilateral Agreements

The approach of an MOU and National Act is recommended where two adjoining countries are involved and the focus is on establishing an OSBP at a particular border crossing. It entails the negotiation and conclusion between the two countries of a bilateral agreement in which the parameters of establishing such an OSBP are spelled out. It also requires that such arrangement be entrenched in the domestic laws of each country by way of an appropriate Act of Parliament with an overriding effect over all border control legislation so as to give legal effect to the provisions of the MOU and the principles of extraterritoriality and hosting arrangements.

Even when a regional legal regime is in place, for the unique characteristics and specific issues of particular border crossing points, the adjoining country pairs may need to conclude bilateral agreements.

National Law and Regulations

Depending on the regional (i.e., REC) constitutional regime and on national constitutional law, after the adoption of regional legal instrument(s), the implementation (or integration or reception) into the national body of law of the respective signatory/member countries may be required. In addition to the issue of direct applicability, an issue that depends on the national legal system of the country concerned is whether after signature of a treaty by the country’s representative the expressed consent needs to be confirmed (ratification), generally by an act of the country’s parliament. These requirements are relevant since they affect the speed of the practical applicability of the regional law.

Formalization of the Appropriate Legal/Regulatory Framework for OSBPs

Negotiation and Approval Process for Regional and Bilateral Agreements

A broad outline of a process that may be used during the negotiation and approval of regional and bilateral agreements for the implementation of OSBPs, including stakeholder consultation(s), development of a succession of working drafts, and plenary workshops, is set out in the main text. There are a number of critical success factors (e.g., open involvement of all key stakeholders in the public and private sectors and acceptance by both of the criticality of their partnership).

Adoption of a National OSBP Act

A national OSBP Act provides for an enabling and empowering framework for the implementation of OSBP(s) within a regional or bilateral arrangement between/among countries. Each country will need to formalize an Act to ensure that the legislative framework for the OSBP is in place.

Specific (Core) OSBP Legal Issues

Core OSBP legal issues include: (i) extraterritoriality; (ii) hosting arrangements; (iii) safety/security management in the common control zone; (iv) facility management of the common control zone; (v) dispute/conflict management/resolution arrangements; (vi) definition and delimitation of the OSBP premises; (vii) the definition of controls to be performed; (viii) definition of sequence of controls; (ix) the definition of handing over of controls; (x) the reversal of controls; (xi) the return of persons, vehicles, and goods, (xii) agreement on the use of a common language, and (xiii) data/information sharing/exchange.

Border Procedures for OSBPs – Simplification and Harmonization

Simplifying and Harmonizing Border Procedures for OSBPs

Key steps in the overall process of simplifying and harmonizing procedures for OSBPs include the (i) audit of procedures; (ii) consultations with all Border agencies and private sector operators; (iii) simplification and harmonization of procedures; (iv) training, capacity building, and sensitization; (v) rigorous baseline, mid-course impact, and endline time measurement surveys; and (vi) fine tuning of procedures.

Designing Border Crossing Procedures for Goods in an OSBP

Clearance of Goods

Customs and other border agencies have to balance their controls among various competing requirements, including trade, the economy, fiscal and budget issues, crime interdiction, environmental concerns, and transport. At OSBPs, the clearance of goods is guided by specific operating principles that require the sequencing of controls according to one of options, state-to-state control or agency-to-agency controls.

In the conduct of their controls, the adjoining countries should specify in their OSBP agreement the sequence and form the controls will take at their OSBP(s). Where practical, the adjoining countries should conduct their controls by way of simultaneous processing of documents and joint inspections and verifications, by all national agencies of the country or countries with an interest in undertaking their controls.

Specific Issues

Specific issue relate to the clearance of hazardous goods, the clearance of perishable goods, the clearance of abnormal or wide loads, and the clearance of empty returning freight vehicles.

Strengthening Security through Border Management in an OSBP

Measures to expedite the clearance of goods and movement of people should not compromise border and national security. Issues relate to (i) intelligence gathering and information sharing, (ii) cross-border crimes, (iii) risk and threat management, (iv) the protection of vulnerable groups (more details are provided on the protection of vulnerable groups, (v) joint investigations and operations, (vi) the search of freight and passenger vehicles for clandestine persons, and (vii) cargo security issues.

Physical Facilities and Traffic Flows in OSBPs

The process of designing OSBP facilities requires careful examination based on current and simulated data and consultations with stakeholders (i.e., resident border agents and users of the facilities), considering that border procedures at OSBPs cannot be streamlined if the design simply expands the layout of conventional border facilities in one country or consolidates that in two countries. In addition, examinations in the pre-construction stage are essential to determine the most appropriate capacity of the OSBP, as well as the method and scheme of construction. It may be that this assessment will find that a “no new construction” option, perhaps including the renovation of existing facilities and/or implementation of nonphysical measures, will be the most preferred solution.

OSBP Case Studies

The following case studies of planned or operational OSBPs were prepared:

1. Chirundu, a juxtaposed OSBP serving Zambia and Zimbabwe;

2. Cinkansé, serving Burkina Faso and Togo, although wholly located within Burkina Faso;

3. Mfum, an OSBP planned to serve Cameroon and Nigeria, although wholly located within Nigeria;

4. An overview of OSBPs within the EAC;

5. Namanga and Rusumo, the former to serve Kenya and Tanzania, and the latter to serve Rwanda and Tanzania;

6. Gasenyi I/Nemba, a straddling OSBP serving Burundi and Rwanda; and

7. Lebombo/Ressano Garcia, planned to serve South Africa and Mozambique.

The case studies focus on the issues/lesson(s) to be presented, with background information provided (only) to the extent that it is relevant. The case studies were necessarily limited to available materials (which have been cited within the case studies) and inputs from cooperating partners. Certain issues/lessons recur throughout several case studies (e.g., the need for well-structured institutions, laws, and procedures; the importance of training), while others are unique (e.g., the viability and efficacy of the straddling OSBP model, the possibility of improving border operating performance even without an OSBP). The case studies provided source material for (the earlier chapters of) the Sourcebook.

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