Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization
Customs Specialist
TRACE Consulting is a Bangladesh-based advisory firm specializing in international trade and trade facilitation, economic policy, regulatory reform, customs modernization, digital government solutions, and quality infrastructure. TRACE works with government institutions, development partners, and the private sector to strengthen regulatory systems, modernize institutions, improve public service delivery, and enhance trade competitiveness. Since August 2025, TRACE has undertaken 17 assignments, including national-level work on Time Release Studies, the Bangladesh Trade Portal, agricultural policy reform, and customs laboratory development.
TRACE Consulting is seeking an experienced Customs Specialist for the Time Release Study (TRS) at Key Custom Houses, Package SD-13, under the Customs Modernization and Infrastructure Development (CMID) Project of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), financed by the World Bank under ACCESS – Bangladesh Phase 1. TRACE is serving as a sub-consultant to the TTT-led consortium for this assignment. Over 21 months, the project will conduct approximately 18 TRS exercises, including baseline, midline, and end-line studies across six major customs locations in Bangladesh. Using the World Customs Organization (WCO) TRS methodology, the assignment will measure cargo release times, assess progress since the 2022 baseline, identify bottlenecks and redundant procedures, and support practical improvements in customs clearance performance.
The Customs Specialist will provide technical support on customs procedures, border operations, trade facilitation, and related analysis while working closely with the Team Leader and other project specialists throughout the assignment.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide technical guidance on Bangladesh Customs import and export clearance procedures, including end-to-end mapping of cargo clearance from arrival or declaration through assessment, examination, regulatory interventions, and physical release.
- Support implementation of the WCO Time Release Study methodology, including study scope, commodities, customs locations, sampling framework, and TRS implementation planning.
- Identify and assess relevant operational and system-based data sources, including ASYCUDA World time stamps, and advise on alternative data-capture arrangements where clearance events are not electronically recorded.
- Support the development and pre-testing of WCO-aligned questionnaires, data-collection instruments, and Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling approaches.
- Provide customs-process guidance to the Data Analyst and Field Coordinator on the structuring, validation, interpretation, and analysis of TRS data.
- Review TRS data, analytical outputs, and findings for technical accuracy, consistency, and alignment with the WCO TRS methodology and project requirements.
- Assess progress against the 2022 TRS baseline, including implementation of previous recommendations and changes in clearance performance.
- Identify bottlenecks, redundant procedures, and inter-agency coordination gaps, and contribute practical recommendations to improve clearance efficiency and border-management processes.
- Support development of the Online TRS Recommendation Implementation Tracker, translating recommendations into monitorable actions with responsible agencies, timelines, milestones, and implementation status.
- Provide technical inputs to the Inception Report, TRS plans, baseline, midline and end-line reports, presentations, infographics, and other project deliverables.
- Liaise with NBR, Customs Houses, Local Working Groups, and other border agencies on operational information, data access, and required permissions, in coordination with the Team Leader.
- Undertake other TRS-related responsibilities assigned by the Team Leader.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics, International Trade, Business, Customs, Finance, Management, Statistics, Information Technology, Computer Science, Public Administration, or a related discipline.
- At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in customs, trade facilitation, border management, customs automation, or customs/trade-related information systems and data.
- Strong practical knowledge of Bangladesh Customs procedures and border-clearance operations, including the roles of Customs Houses, ports, land ports, airports, and other regulatory agencies involved in cargo clearance.
- Sound understanding of Government of Bangladesh administrative processes, including inter-agency coordination, approvals, reporting, and project implementation.
- Understanding of the WCO Time Release Study methodology and relevant provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, particularly those related to release and clearance of goods and measurement of average release times.
- Familiarity with ASYCUDA World or comparable customs automation systems and the use of system-generated data for customs and trade analysis.
- Ability to work with customs-related operational and quantitative data, interpret analytical findings, and present results clearly through tables, charts, and other analytical outputs.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, stakeholder-engagement, and report-writing skills.
- Previous experience working with NBR, Bangladesh Customs, Customs Houses, or other border-management agencies.
- Experience with Time Release Studies, customs-process analysis, trade facilitation, or border-management reform.
- Experience working on development-partner-funded assignments, particularly those supported by the World Bank, ADB, JICA, SECO, or WCO.
- Experience with large-scale surveys, customs data, or national-level trade studies.
- Knowledge of South Asian and BBIN customs and cross-border trade procedures.
- Exposure to the National/Bangladesh Single Window or other customs and trade-related digital reform initiatives.