Easily manage the growing complexity of trade rules as they evolve each day, with billions in trade flows already influenced by the new requirements. Recognised as vital, trade compliance ensures stability, averts supply chain interruptions, and serves as a strategic advantage. It also reduces exposure to fines and reputational harm. Given this evolving landscape, international trade management is crucial. It should be resourced adequately, empowered for cross-department coordination, and influential in strategic decisions.
In partnership with the World Economic Forum, our white paper offers actionable guidance to navigate modern trade hurdles. The insights are drawn from leading global companies through the World Economic Forum’s Trade Compliance Practitioners Group and trade compliance professionals across the PwC Network.
Four core themes addressing challenges
Actions for business
While there isn’t a singular path forward, four key actions can assist companies at the early stages of their international trade management journey towards building a resilient, future-ready trade function:
- Evaluating geopolitical exposure - Assess vulnerabilities in the international trade environment. This involves devising methods to analyse risks from geopolitical movements, regulatory changes, sustainability obligations, and technological requirements from customs authorities.
Enhancing internal collaboration - Embed international trade management across functions such as legal, government relations, sustainability, procurement, and IT for early risk identification and effective compliance management.
Maturity benchmarking - Measure your trade maturity across minimal, evolving, optimising, or leading stages to set realistic goals and prioritise investments in people, processes, and systems.
Exploration of tooling and technology - Investigate the tools and technologies available to support compliance and risk mitigation in international trade, taking into account key factors in the procurement process. Whether through automating foundational tasks, centralising data, or employing AI-enhanced tools, technology can transform trade compliance from a defensive role to a proactive enabler of business continuity and strategic decisions.
You can read the full report here.
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