Key Term and Why You’re Interested in It

Administrative Delays

Liberty University

Dr. Karaffe

Key Term and Why You’re Interested in It

        The key term I will be discussing is Administrative Delays. This topic is interesting because it has been a serious concern for a very long time and currently remains a problem. Administrative delays were created for speed and efficiency; however, this is not the case. Congress controlled administrative delays, but agencies took over the position of doing so. The agencies thought that they could speed procedures along swifter than the government. In 1926, the Supreme Court ruled to condemn administrative delays to relieve agencies from the burden. In the 1980s, the Supreme Court decided to lessen the power they once gave agencies regarding administrative delays because they wanted to prevent disagreements over policy issues.

Explanation of the Key Term

“Administrative delays impose a waiting period between the determination of a product’s quality and the determination of when it can actually be sold in a market.” (Satterlee, 2014). This keeps the person that made the product from making changes to the product while they wait. It also causes that person to miss out on making money. If the product happens to be in high demand in other countries during the waiting period, then smugglers bring the product into the country illegally.

        Administrative delays are divided into two groups: Legal barriers to trade and Procedural barriers to trade. Legal barriers “are caused by different laws and administrative regulations in national economies.” (Bjelic & Petovic, 2009). All national countries that have their independence can adopt laws and rules that defines only one side of their trading routine with other countries. Many of the basic laws were adopted in the past when international trade did not affect their economy’s growth. Today most economies are implementing “more complicated and more restrictive laws to protect producers from foreign competition.” (Bjelic & Petovic, 2009). Procedural barriers “represent all administrative procedures that obstruct international trade and especially imports.” (Bjelic & Petovic, 2009). Every country in the world deals with administrative delays and have guidelines that they must abide by before any product is sold on the market. Certain guidelines include testing the product(s) to make sure there are no harmful effects to the environment and people. These guidelines are also divided into two groups: border barriers- “connected with the functioning of customs authorities and other state organizations present at the border like sanitary and phytosanitary inspectors” (Bjelic & Petovic, 2009) and intraeconomy procedures- “where state organizations in the departments of the government are in charge of issuing various approvals and clearances that serve as a precondition for imports as well as for exports” (Bjelic & Petovic, 2009). All of these guidelines and procedures are just put in place for our protection.

Major Article Summary

        The article of discussion is Customs as Doorkeepers: What are Their Effects on International Trade? Administrative delays are important when it refers to trade barriers. Customs control how shipments are handled during trade. “In fact, customs are the doorkeepers of international trade.” (Martincus, et.al., 2013). When products leave or enter different countries, they must be processed by national customs and this process is very lengthy. Since customs regulations increase the beginning and ending of products, “these intermediating public entities can play a major role in facilitating or hindering exports and imports.” (Martincus, et.al., 2013). Administrative delays increase the length of shipping to the point where exporters must increase their costs and decrease their quantity for fear of non-payment from the buyer.