The Challenge

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is experiencing rapid growth in e-commerce, leading to an increasing volume of cross-border postal and express shipments. However, customs clearance processes for these shipments remain manual, fragmented, which results in delays and higher costs. These inefficiencies hinder the competitiveness of domestic businesses and undermine consumer confidence in cross-border trade.

Currently, there is no pre-arrival or pre-departure processing for express and postal shipments. Limited coordination between government and private sector and inconsistent customs practices across different offices exacerbate delays. A lack of a risk-based approach on pre-arrival data means all shipments are treated the same, leading to unnecessary delays and additional costs for traders and consumers.

What We Are Doing

In collaboration with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA BiH), national postal operators (BH Post, Poste Srpske a.d. Banja Luka and the Croatian Post Mostar), express couriers, and private sector organisations, the Alliance is working to digitalise and streamline the clearance process for postal and express shipments. The project aims to introduce pre-arrival and pre-departure processing and enhance risk-based approach by integrating new IT modules into the existing customs framework.

This initiative supports the upgrade of BiH’s national ASYCUDA World customs system and introduces ASYHUB Post, which will allow postal and express shipment data to be shared electronically in advance. These enhancements will significantly reduce clearance times, improve safety and security, and align BiH’s processes with EU and international standards.

The Alliance is implementing the project through GIZ – Partnerships for Sustainable Trade on behalf of BMZ, in cooperation with GIZ’s regional program Regio Trade, commissioned by the EU and BMZ, and with significant involvement from UNCTAD for the upgrade and deployment of the IT components.

Impacts

The project is expected to deliver the following benefits:

  • A 30% reduction in clearance times for express and postal shipments.
  • Faster and more predictable delivery of cross-border e-commerce goods.
  • Simplified and harmonised customs procedures aligned with EU and international standards.
  • Increased efficiency and transparency in customs operations.
  • Strengthened cooperation between customs, postal operators, and the private sector.
  • Boosted competitiveness for MSMEs in e-commerce.
  • Increased consumer trust in cross-border trade.