Key Details
The World Bank’s Bridging the Gender Gap in Trade Facilitation: Evidence and Policy Pathways from India combines national employment data with a firm-level study of women traders and customs brokers.
Area | Finding |
|---|---|
National participation | Fewer than 5% of working women are in trade-related services, against nearly 15% of working men |
Study coverage | 626 traders and 401 customs brokers surveyed during October–November 2023 |
Information | 54% of surveyed women traders found online information incomplete; 50% reported limited access in local languages |
Safety | 64% of surveyed women customs brokers reported safety concerns during port visits |
Finance | Nearly one-third of surveyed women-led trading firms called finance their top constraint to international expansion |
Institutional proposal | A dedicated CBIC gender team, supported by specialists in field formations |
Women constituted 29% of surveyed traders and 25% of customs brokers. Because the study used quota-based, non-probability sampling, its survey percentages describe the respondents and are not nationally representative estimates.
Faster Border Processes Have Not Produced Equal Access
India has substantially digitised customs and border procedures through Faceless Assessment, SWIFT and E-Sanchit. Its score in the UNESCAP Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation Survey rose from 90.32% in 2021 to 93.55% in 2023; its “Women in Trade Facilitation” score increased from 66.7% to 77.8%.
Yet women remain underrepresented in logistics, customs clearance and wholesale and retail trade. The report’s underlying point is that formally gender-neutral reforms can produce unequal benefits when traders differ in access to information, finance, mobility, professional networks and safe working conditions.
The survey reinforces this distinction. Women traders and customs brokers were generally better educated than their male counterparts, but women traders had less industry experience. Among customs brokers, 46% of women held a professional or postgraduate degree, compared with 18% of men.
Women Face Barriers Across the Trading Journey
The constraints accumulate from entering the sector to completing a transaction:
Entering trade: Social attitudes, care responsibilities and restricted mobility narrow employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Understanding requirements: Government information can be fragmented, technical or unavailable in regional languages.
Expanding a business: Women-led firms face difficulties obtaining trade finance and entering commercial networks.
Using border facilities: Remote locations, night operations, poor transport and inadequate amenities restrict women’s ability to work.
Influencing decisions: Women-led businesses and micro firms have limited representation in trade associations and consultation mechanisms.
The care constraint is particularly significant: Indian women spend 8.4 times as many hours on unpaid work as men, making travel and irregular shifts harder to accommodate.
Information Exists, but Is Not Equally Usable
The study identifies several practical gaps:
54% of women traders said comprehensive information was not available across agency websites.
43% of women traders and 50% of women brokers found government websites difficult to use.
50% of women traders reported limited access to material in local languages.
67% of women brokers identified the absence of centralised trade information as a problem.
Awareness of trade-governance mechanisms was also uneven. Only 55% of surveyed women brokers knew about the National Committee on Trade Facilitation, while awareness among micro firms was 18%.
The report recommends centralised and simplified information, regional-language material, clearer fee and grievance guidance, and greater representation of women-led firms and MSMEs in consultation bodies.
Border Facilities Shape Who Can Work in Trade
Ports, inland depots and land borders are often remote and operational after dark, making transport, sanitation and security economic-participation issues.
64% of surveyed women customs brokers reported safety concerns during port visits.
Reported problems included unsafe sanitation, inadequate rest areas, overcrowding, limited security patrols and the absence of women officials at night.
Around one-third of surveyed traders and brokers visiting border posts reported harassment. The study cautions that its sampling and the sensitivity of disclosure prevent this from being treated as a national prevalence estimate.
Existing initiatives demonstrate possible responses:
LPAI has established a gender unit, adopted infrastructure guidelines and used local recruitment and adjusted shifts to widen women’s employment.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port has involved women’s industry associations in consultations and introduced complaint mechanisms, separate facilities, lactation and rest rooms, and technical training.
CBIC Could Provide the Institutional Anchor
The report proposes a dedicated gender team within CBIC headquarters, supported by gender specialists in customs field formations. Its annual action plan would cover:
Evidence: Safety audits and surveys of traders, customs brokers and frontline workers.
Institutions: Women’s representation in customs employment, consultation bodies and industry associations.
Capability: Gender-sensitisation and logistics, finance and marketing skills.
Facilities and safeguards: Lighting, sanitation, safe transport, rest areas, care facilities and compliance with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013.
This would build on CBIC’s 2024 circulars concerning women’s participation and gender-sensitive infrastructure.
Policy Relevance
The report’s proposals move gender inclusion from a general policy objective towards operational responsibility within India’s trade system. Their value will depend on three implementation choices:
Who is accountable: CBIC can coordinate the effort, but individual customs formations, public authorities and private logistics operators need defined obligations.
What is measured: Monitoring should cover women’s participation, consultation, access to training, infrastructure compliance and complaint resolution—not merely workshops or facilities created.
Who benefits from digitisation: Electronic clearance can reduce physical interaction, but smaller firms will benefit only if information is understandable, multilingual and available through connected channels.
The policy objective is therefore broader than making border processes faster. It is to ensure that women can enter the sector, operate safely, understand requirements and expand trading businesses.
Follow the Full Report Here: Bridging the Gender Gap in Trade Facilitation: Evidence and Policy Pathways from India