# **I. Introduction**

Logistics services have been recognized as the backbone of many sectors. Logistics services encompasses several industries, which include all transportation services, distribution, packaging, and warehousing, among others (Kunaka, et al., 2013). Not only the transport sector, but also the agriculture and manufacturing sectors necessitate logistics to deliver products to the markets. Along the supply chain, several intermediaries, such as truckers, clearing agents, are engaged in services. However, the regulations on logistics services are not well defined in many developing countries; as a result, the regulatory frameworks for this industry are often opaque.

Previous World Bank studies have revealed that a weak regulatory framework has been the root of the challenges that client countries have faced in the transport and logistics service industry. For example, in Greece, multiple administrative agencies that do not interact with each other has created duplication of regulations and resulted in overregulation (WB, 2013). In the East Africa Community, due to insufficient regulatory oversight, low-skilled operators easily enter the industry with the lack of professionalism, quality, and efficiency of their services (Arnold, et al., 2011).

World Bank client countries have faced difficulty finding the issues that hinder them from improving logistics competence. Since there has been a knowledge gap on logistics regulations, it is difficult to identify policy options for more efficient and competitive logistics services. Therefore, we need to understand how the logistics service industry is regulated and what should be addressed in building a better regulatory framework to improve logistics competence.

This note proposes questions to be addressed for beneficial regulations by reviewing existing logistics service regulations, particularly for freight forwarders. These questions will help to assess a regulatory framework and identify regulatory weaknesses that need work. The identified core questions are on national recognition of freight forwarding business; an institutional arrangement with a “leader”; an implementation arrangement with an enforcement mechanism and with clear division of responsibility among stakeholders; and streamlined but flexible regulations adapted to country context.

# **_Methodology of this research and countries reviewed_**

This note reviews current regulatory regimes for freight forwarding businesses with inclination to international operators in the following four steps; 1) describe factors that affect regulations in the logistics service industry; 2) identify related regulations that govern the freight forwarding services in the selected countries; and 3) classify the regulations into some categories. Finally, with findings from the review, 4) propose questions to be addressed linked to preliminary recommendations for policies. The reviewed regulations in this note include laws, civil code, decrees, and stipulations. The means used for this research are online search, existing relevant studies, and works by World Bank staff. Due to the limited access to information, this research may not be able to find a complete set of regulations for each country.

2