Time to import, documentary compliance (hours) - Country Ranking

Definition: Documentary compliance captures the time and cost associated with compliance with the documentary requirements of all government agencies of the origin economy, the destination economy and any transit economies. The aim is to measure the total burden of preparing the bundle of documents that will enable completion of the international trade for the product and partner pair assumed in the case study.

Source: World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Venezuela 1,090.00 2018
2 Afghanistan 324.00 2019
3 Egypt 265.00 2019
4 Equatorial Guinea 240.00 2019
4 Tanzania 240.00 2019
6 Congo 208.00 2019
7 Ethiopia 194.00 2019
8 Togo 180.00 2019
8 Burundi 180.00 2019
10 Iraq 176.00 2019
11 Dem. Rep. Congo 174.00 2019
12 Chad 172.00 2019
13 Argentina 166.00 2019
14 Cameroon 163.00 2019
15 Guinea 156.00 2019
15 Guyana 156.00 2019
15 Niger 156.00 2019
18 Uzbekistan 150.00 2019
19 Syrian Arab Republic 149.33 2019
20 Bangladesh 144.00 2019
20 Liberia 144.00 2019
22 Sudan 132.00 2019
22 Brunei 132.00 2019
22 Cambodia 132.00 2019
25 Tajikistan 126.00 2019
26 Central African Republic 120.00 2019
26 Ecuador 120.00 2019
26 Gabon 120.00 2019
26 Nigeria 120.00 2019
30 Mongolia 114.67 2019
31 Indonesia 106.22 2019
32 Uganda 96.00 2019
32 Burkina Faso 96.00 2019
32 Angola 96.00 2019
32 Pakistan 96.00 2019
32 Philippines 96.00 2019
32 Palau 96.00 2019
32 Kuwait 96.00 2019
32 Libya 96.00 2019
32 Algeria 96.00 2019
41 Côte d'Ivoire 89.14 2019
42 Kyrgyz Republic 84.00 2019
43 Sierra Leone 82.00 2019
44 Zimbabwe 81.00 2019
45 Mali 77.00 2019
46 Somalia 76.00 2019
46 Vietnam 76.00 2019
48 Qatar 72.00 2019
48 Bolivia 72.00 2019
48 Honduras 72.00 2019
48 Lebanon 72.00 2019
48 Senegal 72.00 2019
48 Tonga 72.00 2019
48 Zambia 72.00 2019
55 Mauritania 64.00 2019
55 Colombia 64.00 2019
57 Kenya 60.00 2019
57 Bahrain 60.00 2019
57 Lao PDR 60.00 2019
60 Benin 58.67 2019
61 Madagascar 57.64 2019
62 Jamaica 56.00 2019
63 Malawi 55.00 2019
64 Jordan 54.86 2019
65 Djibouti 50.00 2019
66 Antigua and Barbuda 48.00 2019
66 Vanuatu 48.00 2019
66 Ukraine 48.00 2019
66 Uruguay 48.00 2019
66 Rwanda 48.00 2019
66 Nepal 48.00 2019
66 Kiribati 48.00 2019
66 Sri Lanka 48.00 2019
66 Myanmar 48.00 2019
66 Peru 48.00 2019
66 Papua New Guinea 48.00 2019
77 Barbados 46.00 2019
78 Israel 44.00 2019
78 Timor-Leste 44.00 2019
78 Trinidad and Tobago 44.00 2019
81 Russia 42.50 2019
82 Iran 40.00 2019
83 Solomon Islands 36.50 2019
84 Ghana 36.00 2019
84 Chile 36.00 2019
84 Belize 36.00 2019
84 Guinea-Bissau 36.00 2019
84 Paraguay 36.00 2019
84 South Africa 36.00 2019
90 Fiji 33.75 2019
91 St. Kitts and Nevis 33.14 2019
92 Seychelles 33.00 2019
93 Guatemala 32.00 2019
93 Saudi Arabia 32.00 2019
95 The Gambia 31.50 2019
96 Haiti 28.00 2019
97 Tunisia 26.92 2019
98 Comoros 26.00 2019
98 Costa Rica 26.00 2019
98 Azerbaijan 26.00 2019
98 Morocco 26.00 2019
102 Samoa 24.50 2019
103 Suriname 24.00 2019
103 Brazil 24.00 2019
103 Grenada 24.00 2019
103 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 24.00 2019
103 Cabo Verde 24.00 2019
103 Dominica 24.00 2019
109 India 19.88 2019
110 Mexico 17.56 2019
111 São Tomé and Principe 17.00 2019
112 Nicaragua 16.00 2019
112 Mozambique 16.00 2019
114 St. Lucia 14.07 2019
115 Dominican Republic 13.50 2019
116 El Salvador 13.33 2019
117 China 12.80 2019
118 United Arab Emirates 12.00 2019
119 Mauritius 8.63 2019
120 Bosnia and Herzegovina 8.00 2019
120 Bhutan 8.00 2019
120 Albania 8.00 2019
123 United States 7.50 2019
124 Oman 7.00 2019
125 Malaysia 6.50 2019
126 Panama 6.00 2019
126 The Bahamas 6.00 2019
128 Kazakhstan 5.50 2019
128 Montenegro 5.50 2019
130 Thailand 4.00 2019
130 Australia 4.00 2019
132 Eswatini 3.56 2019
133 Belarus 3.50 2019
134 Japan 3.35 2019
135 Botswana 3.31 2019
136 Namibia 3.25 2019
137 Singapore 3.00 2019
137 Serbia 3.00 2019
137 North Macedonia 3.00 2019
140 San Marino 2.50 2019
140 Iceland 2.50 2019
142 Georgia 2.00 2019
142 Norway 2.00 2019
142 Cyprus 2.00 2019
142 Turkey 2.00 2019
146 Puerto Rico 1.71 2019
147 United Kingdom 1.67 2019
148 Armenia 1.62 2019
149 Moldova 1.56 2019
150 Liechtenstein 1.50 2019
150 Switzerland 1.50 2019
152 Hong Kong SAR, China 1.32 2019
153 Korea 1.00 2019
153 Canada 1.00 2019
153 Lesotho 1.00 2019
153 New Zealand 1.00 2019
157 Ireland 0.81 2019
158 Hungary 0.75 2019
159 Italy 0.50 2019
159 Spain 0.50 2019
159 Czech Republic 0.50 2019
159 France 0.50 2019
159 Slovak Republic 0.50 2019
159 Slovenia 0.50 2019
159 Austria 0.50 2019
159 Belgium 0.50 2019
159 Bulgaria 0.50 2019
159 Finland 0.50 2019
159 Germany 0.50 2019
159 Denmark 0.50 2019
159 Estonia 0.50 2019
159 Croatia 0.50 2019
159 Greece 0.50 2019
159 Portugal 0.50 2019
159 Netherlands 0.50 2019
159 Malta 0.50 2019
159 Lithuania 0.50 2019
159 Luxembourg 0.50 2019
159 Latvia 0.50 2019
159 Romania 0.50 2019
159 Poland 0.50 2019
159 Sweden 0.50 2019

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Statistical Concept and Methodology: The time and cost for documentary compliance include the time and cost for obtaining documents (such as time spent to get the document issued and stamped); preparing documents (such as time spent gathering information to complete the customs declaration or certificate of origin); processing documents (such as time spent waiting for the relevant authority to issue a phytosanitary certificate); presenting documents (such as time spent showing a port terminal receipt to port authorities); and submitting documents (such as time spent submitting a customs declaration to the customs agency in person or electronically). All electronic or paper submissions of information requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. All documents prepared by the freight forwarder or customs broker for the product and partner pair assumed in the case study are included regardless of whether they are required by law or in practice. Any documents prepared and submitted so as to get access to preferential treatment— for example, a certificate of origin—are included in the calculation of the time and cost for documentary compliance. Any documents prepared and submitted because of a perception that they ease the passage of the shipment are also included (for example, freight forwarders may prepare a packing list because in their experience this reduces the probability of physical or other intrusive inspections). In addition, any documents that are mandatory for exporting or importing are included in the calculation of time and cost. Documents that need to be obtained only once are not counted, however. And Doing Business does not include documents needed to produce and sell in the domestic market—such as certificates of third-party safety standards testing that may be required to sell toys domestically—unless a government agency needs to see these documents during the export process.

Aggregation method: Unweighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are recorded as 22 × 24 = 528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose that documents are submitted to a customs agency at 8:00