Public Disclosure Authorized

DECEMBER 2016

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

VICTORIA TETYORA,
Innovation by Design: Conducting a Border-
Crossing Time-Release Study in Belarus
Private Sector Specialist, joined
IFC in 2008. She works with
several trade and competitive-
Public Disclosure Authorized

ness projects in Europe and

Central Asia, leading knowledge- In 2015, the World Bank and IFC conducted a border-crossing time-release
management and stakeholder-
relations activities. study (TRS) at three points on the Belarus border. The joint team customized
IRINA SHEMSHENYA, a standard survey methodology to gather a wider range of data as well as to
Private Sector Specialist, joined
IFC in 2004 and leads the Trade overcome time and other resource constraints. This SmartLesson describes
Logistics component of the
Belarus National Quality the team’s efforts to fit the TRS to the particular context in Belarus to ensure
Infrastructure (NQI) and Business
Regulation project. She also accurate and actionable data.
coordinates activities supporting
the Belarus NQI system, including
improving the public-private BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to measure
dialogue on technical regulations, the interval between arrival of trucks at
market surveillance, and
accreditation systems to enhance Belarus is a landlocked Eastern Euro- a border-crossing point (BCP) and their
the competitiveness of Belarus pean nation that shares borders with release into the entry country—and how
Public Disclosure Authorized

businesses.
five other countries: Russia, Ukraine, Po- that interval might be broken down into
ALIAKSANDR land, Lithuania, and Latvia. The country smaller intervals, according to the con-
ABRASHKEVICH,
Research and Policy Analyst,
serves as an important trade and transit trols undertaken by border agencies,
started working for IFC as a point between Europe and the Eurasia and their duration. Results from the
consultant in 2009. He leads
research activities of the Belarus Economic Union (EEU). To be sufficient- study will serve as a baseline of border
NQI and Business Regulation
ly competitive in attracting companies agency performance, and a follow-up
project.
trading between Europe and the EEU, TRS will occur once the modernization
The authors would like to
acknowledge contributions to Belarus needs to ensure that its cross- of the Minsk-Grodno transit corridor is
this SmartLesson by Violane
border processes are highly efficient. complete. The Investment Climate proj-
Konar-Leacy, Clayton Kerswell,
Gagik Gabrielyan, Heinz ect has already begun using the results
Strubenhoff, and Irina
The World Bank Group has been assisting of the study to advise the government
Niederberger (Trade and
Competitiveness Global Practice). the government of Belarus in improving of Belarus on necessary changes to bor-
its strategic position via its Transit Cor- der-crossing regulations. (See Figure 1.)
APPROVING MANAGER
Public Disclosure Authorized

Lisa Kaestner, Practice Manager, ridor Improvement project (since May

Trade and Competitiveness Global
2015), which supports modernization of
Practice, Europe and Central Asia.
LESSONS LEARNED
the M6 Minsk-Grodno motorway transit
corridor, and via an IFC Investment Cli- Lesson 1: A methodology is just a
mate advisory project (since June 2014) tool—adjust and adapt it to suit
to streamline regulatory procedures your context and goal.
and facilitate trade. Under the auspices
of both projects, a border-crossing TRS1 The World Bank Group team, in coop-
was launched at key crossing points on eration with the Belarus State Customs
both sides of the Belarus borders with Committee and Belarus State Univer-
Poland and with Lithuania. sity’s Center for Sociological and Po-
litical Research (a project contractor),
1 A TRS is a monitoring and research tool that designed a study methodology based
measures different aspects of operational border- on Laufzettel’s survey (see Method 1
management procedures related to the processing of
goods at international borders and inland clearance in Box 1) but incorporating additional
terminals. data-gathering functions: the placing

SMARTLESSONS — DECEMBER 2016 1

Figure 1: Observation and Data Collection at BCPs

Location of observers at the BCP ‘Berestovitsa’ (inbound flow):

of observers at BCPs and conducting a brief survey These adjustments to the standard methodology
with drivers. The study was thus designed to enable worked well for the purpose of this study. They yield-
information-gathering from a three-dimensional per- ed additional data sets that could not have been ob-
spective—weekends versus weekdays, two sides of tained by just using a driver’s checklist. These adapta-
each BCP, and the incorporation of nearby locations tions enabled time- and cost-effective completion of
in Lithuania and Poland as well as Belarus—to pro- the exercise as well as subsequent initiatives involving
vide a comprehensive, grounded, and realistic picture the Belarus Customs Committee. Moreover, the more
of how trucks move across three BCPs (two on the diversified set of data offered the team more avenues
to pursue reforms in trade logistics and border man-
Belarusian-Polish border, and one on the Belarusian
agement.
Lithuanian border).

The study recorded the waiting time before enter-

Lesson 2: The devil is in the details; there are
ing a BCP and the time spent in actually crossing no shortcuts to success.
during peak and off-peak times of the week. The
Thorough preparation was critical to successful imple-
study also aimed to capture additional border-man-
mentation of the study, especially in view of the team’s
agement procedures, such as the duration of the intention to cover weekends and weekdays, both sides
physical examination, sampling procedures, and the of a BCP, and two neighboring countries in addition to
time between the arrival of the truck in the exami- Belarus. The preparation phase was the most time con-
nation zone and the start of the actual examination. suming and demanding, in part because of the number
(See Box 1.) Separate checklists and datasheets were of moving parts involved in carrying out the exercise:
completed for outbound (Belarus into the European extensive communication, sometimes hourly, between
Union) and inbound (from the European Union into study participants, which comprised the Customs Com-
Belarus) commercial truck flows. mittee, the contractor, border-crossing personnel, the

2 SMARTLESSONS — DECEMBER 2016

 contractor immediately informed the rest
Box 1. Changes to the Methodology Made by the Belarus Team of the observers involved in the study
The methodology of the Belarus TRS consisted of the following three about the oversight and instructed them
data-gathering methods: to synchronize watches with BCP person-
• Method 1: A short checklist given by the observer to the driver nel before the start of any fieldwork.
on entering a border-crossing point. At each stage of the crossing
procedure, the driver gives the checklist to the BCP employee, Another crucial action in the prepara-
who makes appropriate records (usually start and end times of the tion process was the need to physically
control activities) and returns it to the driver, who hands back the visit each BCP and assess its location,
filled-in checklist to the observer or border guard at the border infrastructure, and layout at the time
exit. of methodology development. The vari-
ous data-gathering methods required
This is the standard TRS method based on the Laufzettel ap-
the use of many observers, which is not
proach. The Belarus Customs Committee uses it for periodic
checks. The Belarus team augmented the methodology to provide something the team could afford. Con-
added value by using the Customs Committee’s questionnaire as sequently, during the preparation pro-
a starting point for developing a checklist for the study that would cess, the team visited each BCP to check
collect additional data. its design and layout for optimal place-
ment of a limited number of observers.
• Method 2: A specially developed datasheet used by observers
placed at specific positions within the BCP to track the types and Site visits also allowed identification of
number of controls the truck goes through and their duration.
other factors with the potential to dis-
Each observer oversees a particular stage of the border-crossing
tort study findings, such as when and
process (weighing, putting on electronic queue) and uses the
datasheet to record truck movements. where drivers take rest or meal breaks,
which increase transit times. They also
• Method 3: One-question interaction with the driver. The team enabled establishment of rapport with
added this method to explore the queuing process and how it border personnel, an advantage in se-
influences the overall border-crossing process (how long drivers curing buy-in and eliciting advice during
have to wait before entering the BCP). To overcome the unpre- the study’s implementation.
dictability of queue lengths and the frequency and speed with
which they can change within a short time frame, the team dou-
ble-tasked the first observer (standing at the entry point of the
Lesson 3: Treat contractors as
BCP), getting him or her to question the drivers, as they enter the equal partners in the process.
BCP, on how much time they have spent waiting in the queue. Their knowledge and expertise
The team defined queuing time as from the driver’s arrival at the
are crucial.
queue of trucks until the first control procedure at the BCP. (Note:
Allowing strangers extended access to
“Release” time may reflect only one component of the “clear-
ance” process, requiring measurement at various sites/times.) border security and customs points, in-
ternal documentation, and other non-
public information presents a security
embassies of Poland and Lithuania, and the inspec- risk. The team took great care in choos-
tion agencies placed on the border (for example, the ing a contractor and consulted with the Customs
veterinary and phytosanitary agencies). Also critical Committee before selecting Belarus State University’s
were detailed assessments of border-crossing configu- Center for Sociological and Political Research through
rations, site visits, and training to enable observers to an open competitive process. Although the team had
carry out their responsibilities. successfully worked with the Center before on several
investment-climate surveys, this study had different
One detail that the team overlooked in its preparation technical, methodological, political, and security re-
was the need to synchronize the watches of observers quirements.
with the time registered in the computer network used
by BCP employees, given that in a time-based study, The team saw the contractor as a partner in the en-
especially one tracking five- or ten-minute processes, deavor—the “brains” that would develop and apply
even seconds are significant. This discrepancy was dis- the methodology. The Center also brought genuine
covered after the first day of fieldwork, when the data interest in the work as a way to develop its institu-
from the first filled-in checklists and datasheets were tional knowledge and add a new research compe-
cross-checked by the research coordinator. The study’s tence to its portfolio. The team had a limited budget

SMARTLESSONS — DECEMBER 2016 3

and yet wanted to complete a more complex study win for the project and the university, as noted in Les-
than a typical TRS, but the Center was sufficient- son 3 above.
ly price competitive to complete the study within
budget. Industry was represented by the local hauler associa-
tion, which influenced the methodology of the study
Given the lack of experience with time-release studies by providing industry knowledge. The association’s
in the Belarus market, the contractor was expected to advice on peak loads and general bottlenecks in the
be willing to take an immersive approach, be ready border-crossing process were essential in designing
to learn, and experiment “on the fly.” The following the study. For instance, the team chose Tuesdays, Sat-
were the Center’s key value additions to the process: urdays, and Sundays to incorporate peak, medium-
peak, and off-peak times into the study, based on the
• Effective organization and management of the association’s advice.
entire process of conducting the study. This in-
volved 1) selection of observers, their training, The public sector was represented by the State Cus-
monitoring, and quality check of their perfor- toms Committee of Belarus, the Border Guard Service,
mance, and 2) pilot testing of the study to check and other relevant technical inspections involved in
how the process worked and make adjustments border-crossing control, such as sanitary and quar-
to the methodology and process. The Center pi- antine, veterinary, and phytosanitary. Moreover, the
loted the study at the smallest border-crossing Customs Committee provided all necessary informa-
point before moving to a larger one. tion, including details on layouts of BCPs and its own
methodology for measuring release times. The em-
• Successful development of the methodology for bassies of Poland and Lithuania were fully aware of
data gathering (together with the project team). and involved in the study. Through these embassies,
the team worked with the Customs and Border Guard
• Successful development of approaches to data Services of Poland and Lithuania to implement the
analysis. The Center was instrumental in propos- study.
ing ways of aggregating various types of data
received from three different sources into one Such collaboration between government, industry,
database for further analysis. The Center’s re- and academia were critical success factors. Each sec-
search and scientific background was valuable, tor brought its own expertise and organization, and
offering the most appropriate solution for docu- the blend of expertise and resources meant prob-
menting the aggregated data from different lems were anticipated and dealt with rather than
sources. stumbled upon. For example, one day on the Polish
side of the border, customs officials refused to allow
Lesson 4: A “triple helix”2 coalition of the nominated observer to do his job. A few quick
academia, industry, and government was calls between triple-helix partners soon removed the
obstacle, and work resumed. The positive collabora-
indispensable to carrying out the TRS.
tion opened chains of communication and access to
The Belarus team effectively applied the triple-helix hierarchy and command that, in a non-collaborative
collaboration model of “academia-industry-govern- environment, would have brought the whole study
ment” to design and perform the study, coordinating to a halt.
this collaboration at national (government agencies,
customs authorities, academia, and the private sec-
Lesson 5: Selecting the unique identifier of
tor) and international (customs offices and the em- a vehicle and “cleaning” data prevented
bassies of Poland and Lithuania) levels. The team’s complications and discrepancies in data
goal was to ensure that each party involved in the analysis.
process knew its role and had been properly briefed
about the progress and next steps. Using multiple sources of data collection entailed
thorough consideration of the process of bringing
Academia was represented by the Center for Socio- data together and preparing them for analysis. Since
logical and Political Research of the local university movements of a particular truck at the BCP were
contracted to design and carry out the study—a win- recorded in up to eight separate data sources, the
team needed a meaningful way to match records
2 http://triplehelix.stanford.edu/3helix_concept from those sources. In other words, the team needed

4 SMARTLESSONS — DECEMBER 2016

to find an attribute suitable for unique administrative steps. In fact, the team
identification of each observed truck. did observe that agencies do not co-
If every observer completed a required ordinate as well as possible, and that
field with the truck’s identifying attri- there is some duplication of roles.
bute before making a new record, then
the data contained in this field could be The study also confirmed that some
used to match the records from multiple of the controls currently performed at
sources. The Belarus team selected vehi- the border can be moved inland with-
cle license plates as a unique identifier. out compromising the integrity of the
A relational database was created with control process. This is an important
data from separate documents (check- complement to the Belarus Investment
lists, datasheets) linked to the truck’s Climate project’s other work streams
license-plate number. focused on risk management and
market surveillance. The World Bank’s
However, there was still scope for human Transport project also obtained insights
error in the form of “typos” in recording into better design of the border-cross-
the license plates. The contractor provid- ing infrastructure.
ed a staffer to cross-check, double-check,
and clean the data and make it easier for Yet there also were surprises in the re-
the team to conduct its analysis. sults. The study suggested that a num-
ber of other factors influence traffic
and cause delays, such as Germany’s
CONCLUSION ban on truck movement during week-
The results of the study were captured ends, or that fuel can be brought duty-
in the joint action plan signed by the free into the EU via Lithuania but not
project team and the Customs Commit- via Poland. To avoid duty costs, truck
tee. The project has also led to improved operators fill up their tanks with the
interagency coordination at the Customs cheaper fuel in Belarus and take a lon-
agency and enhancements to the risk- ger route through Lithuania, rather
based system. There are plans to hold than proceeding directly from Belarus
a joint event to discuss how to improve to Poland. The team believes that, in
the exchange of customs data among Po- addition to helping improve the border
land, Lithuania, and Belarus. management process in Belarus, the
study will help the relevant countries
The team’s initial assumption when de- examine these issues and consider their
signing the study was that delays in time- environmental and economic costs.
release procedures would primarily be
due to bottlenecks related to procedural The methodology developed by the Be-
constraints, such as onerous paperwork, larus team is now informing the design
DISCLAIMER
poor transparency and service delivery of similar studies in the Balkans and SmartLessons is an awards
on the part of BCP staff, or redundant Central Asia. program to share lessons learned
in development-oriented
advisory services and investment
operations. The findings,
interpretations, and conclusions
expressed in this paper are those
of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of
IFC or its partner organizations,
the Executive Directors of The
World Bank or the governments
they represent. IFC does not
assume any responsibility for the
completeness or accuracy of the
information contained in this
document. Please see the terms
and conditions at www.ifc.org/
smartlessons or contact the
program at [email protected].

SMARTLESSONS — DECEMBER 2016 5