Georgia introduces Trade Facilitation System:
Streamlining operations will save businesses 9m GEL

Georgia is harmonising the electronic flow of information among key players in the logistics, shipping and transport industries, making it easier for businesses to operate and improving the country’s reputation as a business-friendly country.

Today Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani announced Georgia would launch the Trade Facilitation System (TFS), which would streamline business operations by allowing businesses to enjoy direct communication digitally, removing the need for time-consuming paperwork, by sharing information on a secure platform.

Tsulukiani said the TFS scheme had been tested intensively and the results of these tests were positive.

We are introducing a platform that enables companies to exchange information electronically, without paper. As a result the TFS will substitute one million paper documents annually and thanks to that businesses have the potential to save about 9 million GEL every year,” Tsulukiani said.

The TFS official website (www.tfs.ge) stated TFS was an information hub that provided a link between various operational programs in a timely and secure information exchange. TFS enabled electronic connections not only between public sector businesses (freight companies, insurance firms, banks, etc) but also with Governmental institutions (customs, railway, border police) and private sector entities such as ports, shipping lines, airlines, postal carriers, airports, terminals, warehouses and more.

The TFS was open to local and international businesses, Tsulukiani stressed.

About 25 companies plus Governmental institutions, such as the Revenue Service, Georgian Railway, Poti and Batumi Sea Ports and various shipping lines and terminals, had already signed up to use the TFS however Tsulukiani hoped more small companies would be interested in using and benefitting from the new service.

Research by Georgia’s Data Exchange Agency showed the TFS would save 3.7 hours of operators’ working time and 26 printed pages on each shipping container, resulting in the total annual estimated savings related to container management at 4.53 million GEL.

The TFS enables traders, customs brokers, freight forwarders, shipping lines and other players in international trade to submit information through a single entry point.

It will also ensure connection between different operational software systems to exchange the data timely and safely,” Tsulukiani said.

Businesses that use the TFS will be able to optimise their logistic processes and improve their competitive market position, said Georgia’s Ministry of Justice.

The TFS was implemented in Georgia by the Data Exchange Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia with significant support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its Economic Prosperity Initiative (EPI).