Facilitating trade and improving supply chain security through transit trade mobility: An empirical investigation from developing country

Abstract

This study tries to investigate supply chain security through transit trade mobility (TTM) at a domestic and global level, highlighting the importance of using technological development (i.e. e-tracking systems) for enhancing monitoring and controlling levels. The qualitative data using descriptive study was adopted by reviewing the secondary data in nature such as statistical reports and existing studies. Furthermore, semi-interviews were conducted with managers; truck drivers as well as traders involved in the transit trade. Data were collected from 176 participants from Jordan a developing country. The outcomes of the study exhibit that the trading cost significantly decline for Jordan and other countries through the adaptation of e-tracking systems in their customs and trading activities. Consequently, the use of the e-tracking system for transit good trading reduces the need for its escorting by the customs union, where bulky and high-duty good remains an exception. Improved use of e-transit traffic has been observed, whereas the meantime for the overall TTM has been mitigated to more than eighty percent, which is followed by reduced smuggling rates by almost about eighty percent. An electronic TTM tracking system is preferable to be adopted for trading at transnational, regional, and international levels in other countries.

Keywords:

• electronic
• tracking system
• supply chain
• security
• transit trade mobility
• developing country

1. Introduction

With the upsurge in technology, various technologically innovative practices are adapted to propel the company or countries especially concerning the profit margin associated with Regional and International Trade Agreements (RITAs). To establish a proper and effective system of trading, the customs union staff of the countries adopt various practices to propel the countries to execute actions, which harmonize the border to improve the trading of products and services, to boost economic development and integration among various national and international regions (Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017; Dmitrieva et al., 2021; Goli, 2023). Considering this, the mechanism of the electronic trading system has captured the attraction at an increasing level of the governmental bodies of various countries. This increasing attraction emerges because of a requirement, which required positive engagement among the countries (Chang et al., 2019).

With the increased span of globalization, the country’s trading system incorporates two components essential for developing and sustaining its economic growth namely Transit Trade mobility (TTM) and Trade Facilitation (TF). TTM constitutes of all the physical movement of the products in different counties involving the suspended custom duties in some cases and lack the inspection. This movement raises concerns regarding the smuggling practices of the transit goods in the country’s domestic market as well as regional market among various countries. This factor increases the prospects of occurrence of smuggling activities such as trading of goods and material, which jeopardize the country, and individual health, such as narcotics, drugs, explosive, as well as weapons (Lim et al., 2017; Qi et al., 2022). While is defined by Lim et al. (2017) as “designated geographical paths for moving goods, its related services and information (across borders) with the provision of policy support and related facilities” and “designated geographical paths, involving territories of third country (countries) in addition to origin and destination countries, for moving goods, its related services and information across border with the provision of policy support and related facilities”.

Due to this concern, there are various countries across the globe, which are continuously making efforts for improving and updating the employed tools used in trade to overcome and mitigate the hazardous outcomes of the TTM. Most countries custom staff and members of Custom Union (CU), prior to giving it permission, are not allowed to physically inspect the cargo, which is carrying trading goods to the other country; additionally, improving regulation and control over the custom duties. Therefore, this increases the security issues at an international level considering the supply change trade because of the danger involving the activities pertaining to terrorism, the planned crime and smuggling at an international level, which have driven the countries to increase their security measures involving trading of good as well as their secure transit route.

Therefore, the secure aspect of the trading activities has increased the administrative practices of custom and associated parties with regard to the smooth flow of supply chain trading at a global level, while enabling trading to be carried out among the countries by the legally authorized cargos. The concept of TF is related to the enhancement of overall characteristics of the chain operations involved in trading at domestic, regional and international level. It integrates the changes made in the border and its associated functionality, encompassing the transportation setup, logistics operations, customs admissions, and border management practices and parameters availability, credibility as well as proficiency (Diao et al., 2023; Iliopoulou et al., 2019; Lee & Lee, 2016).

The transit system constitutes of the setup, the legitimate outline, foundations, controls, practices along with various other components to eliminate all the barriers and provide a smooth path for goods transfer (Arvis, 2011; Chang et al., 2019; Goli et al., 2023). At regional, local and across countries, a wide shared area is covered by the trading activities that specifically require efficient and proliferative trading system for ascertaining trade connectivity. Mostly the global trading activities of the country take place by crossing or passing by their adjacent countries. The subsequent countries might not expand the scope of their trading activities as well as form a supply chain structure for their training activities, in case the collaborative and coordination practices are not present in the transit countries (Hanig et al., 2023). As per the study of World Bank (2008), the prime concern of the transit countries is to eradicate all the smuggling practices carried out in the region. It also involves the reduction of the dangerous problems affecting the traffic transits finances, setting, infrastructure, as well as social practices. Consequently, the selection of any trading system is dependent upon its full compliance with the requirements of the adjacent and trading countries.

Various nations across the world have established various international transit agreements, projects aimed to serve as transport and trade passage along with management of the border, which assists in TTM though mitigating the potential trade fraud associated with it as well as smuggling prospects. It is highlighted in the study of Diao et al. (2023) that customs play a significantly important role for the governmental parties to operate the transit system with the application of several custom measures, which all assist in TTM.

This empirical study was conducted with the aim of investigating TTM locally and regionally, and the extent to which the customs measure systems and procedures in force in Jordan are compatible with the increase in commercial movement at all border crossings, whether land, sea, or even air in order to improve and facilitate traffic, and simplifying customs procedure. Thus, the use and adoption of the e-tracking system to increase security and protection for all goods passing through transit to reduce smuggling, tax evasion practices, and customs duties. From this scenario, and due to the lack of studies that have been conducted on developing countries, this study was conducted as a case study to be applied to include many neighboring countries, regionally and internationally. From this point of view, the research question in the study was derived as follows “Can Jordan be considered a scenario a hub for the regional and international transit trade movement in the Middle East?” In addition, its focus is on applying and using an electronic transit system to monitor, control, and track commercial transit goods regardless of the approved channel for transportation, where air freight, trans-shipment as well as the temporary admission system remain an exception. Furthermore, it also considers the functional capabilities of the trading system, and how it responds to the local, regional, and global corridors. Furthermore, this study contributes to amplify the security level and protection of TTM through the SC logistical activities. The use of smart sensors (e.g., light and motion sensors via wireless communication devices (such as GPS)) is suggested in a parallel manner with an e-tracking system that takes place in the transit trade tracking involving the internal installation of light detectors within the containers.

The structure of the study comprises of the following sections. Section 2, introduces the literature review key principles, and background; while, Section 3 explains research methodology. The results and discussion of this study will be demonstrated in Section 4, while, Section 5 illustrates the conclusion of the study is exhibited; limitations are highlighted as well as a gap that remains to be filled by the study. For overcoming those gaps, the future direction of the research is further highlighted.

1.1. Acronyms

To simplest the understanding of the meanings of used abbreviations in this study; Table 1 summarizes the acronyms and meanings.

Table 1. Summarizes the Acronyms and meanings used in the study

Acronyms	Meanings
RITAs	Regional and International Trade Agreements.
TT	Transit Trade.
TF	Trade Facilitation.
CU	Custom Union.
JC	Jordan Customs.
GAAT	General Agreement on Traffic and Trade.
RKC	Revised Kyoto Convention.
WCO	World Customs Organization.
EAC	East African Community.
RADDEx	Revenue Authorities Digital Data Exchange System.
EU	European Union.
CTS	Common Transit System.
WTO	World Trade Organization.
ASYCUDA	Automated System for Customs Data.
GPS	Global Positioning System.
RFID	Radio Frequency Identification.
AGC	Arabian Gulf Countries
PDA	Personal Data Assistant.
MENA	Middle East and North Africa.

2. Literature Review, key principles and background

In the relevant literature, there is a few and limited number that focuses on facilitating trade and is concerned with improving the security and protection of the supply chain (SC) in general, and TTM in particular and specifically in developing countries. In addition, there is no readily available literature addressing a range of factors relevant to their adoption and use in this study. Therefore, this study came to provide a model that includes these factors to be studied in Jordan as a developing country. The results of this study would be applied and generalized to other developing countries in the context of policy makers’ perspective. Especially, those related to issues of facilitating and simplifying customs procedures and improving the security and protection of SCs through the smooth flow of goods passing through transit, issues related to the development of commercial traffic and logistical transport services, in addition to reducing bottlenecks that may occur at the main crossings and borders of the state. Therefore, the review included relevant studies in the geographical context of Northeast Asia and in another regional context as well, whenever appropriate.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) conducted a study on trade and transport corridors in Mongolia in 2011 by applying the cross-border business process analysis method, in which it dealt with the most important issues related to the transportation of Mongolian goods along TTM corridors. The study focused on the relevant factors that must be taken into account, which would develop the TTM corridors, as the study included increasing the aspects of intergovernmental coordination and cooperation, improving the various customs and logistical services and the logistical transport infrastructure, in addition to addressing and increase of cooperation between public and private sectors. Saidi et al. (2023) and Iliopoulou et al. (2019) conducted a comprehensive study, and both studies focused on the main factors that work to facilitate trade for the member countries of the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI). The study indicated the most important factors that work to improve the performance of trade facilitation for the member countries of the initiative Global classification and focused on the main issues related to TTM with the state of Mongolia as land-locked countries (LLCs). This suggested specific cooperation measures among them, with due attention to the importance of intergovernmental cooperation and coordination.

According to GTI (2015), there is a number of studies have been conducted by GTI that emphasizes the processes of facilitating and simplifying trade and transport in the region for the mandate of economic development and identifying the main transport corridors for GTI to accelerate and improve performance and reduce the restrictions imposed and associated with logistical transport. One of these studies, as GTI (2014a) study, indicated the importance of multimodal transport by linking the main and secondary roads with the roads leading to the seaports by focusing on and analyzing the volume of commercial transactions (i.e., TTM, etc.) carried out by customs procedures, and taking into account the provision and operation of various logistical activities related to loading, unloading and logistical transport. Then, standing on the most important obstacles associated with it, and work to provide and propose several scenarios that will facilitate the procedures of multimodal land and sea transport. While another study sheds light on the analysis of the extent of government spending for the current situation in providing the infrastructure for logistical transport, including main and secondary roads, bridges, and logistical services for goods transport operations, intergovernmental coordination, and standardization in the operation of transport corridors in the region as a whole (Goli & Tirkolaee, 2023; GTI, 2014b). While the study of GTI (2014c) paid great attention to activating and highlighting the public–private partnership as an option for the process of developing infrastructure for logistical transport of all kinds. Thus, providing the necessary financing for the development of infrastructure related to the provision of private transport corridors is necessary to accelerate the movement of goods (i.e., TTM, etc.) internally and among other countries. Despite the importance of conducting several GTI studies, they still presented valuable contributions and provided several trade perspectives that are related to transit trade facilitation. A preliminary forecasting of the volume of TTM between the countries located in Northeast Asia was made in the study conducted by GTI (2015). In addition to referring to the volumes of transport and freight costs in transporting goods (i.e., TTM, etc.), which focused on the importance of working on the development of the port Rajin, Which will bring great economic benefits and obtain a competitive advantage in speeding up handling operations and in import and export operations. Here, it must be noted that most of the studies conducted through GTI member countries focused on activating and developing political measures and decision-making capabilities by decision-makers in the relevant countries. Thus, using the results of these studies to build, design, and develop a cooperative program to increase the level of coordination and cooperation frameworks to connect the member countries together to facilitate the movement of goods among them.

A study conducted by Lapin (2014) focused on the development of the international trade routes in the East Asian countries (i.e., China, Japan, and South Korea). It is focused on the status of trade lanes was assessed, their routes determined, and the impact of their current situation on the logistical movement of containers and demand expectations for the movement of goods between the three countries. In this study, the importance of information systems used between the three countries, productivity and absorptive capacity for handling containers in ports, facilitating trade and transport movement, evaluating and developing the logistical transport infrastructure, enhancing interdependence of multi-purpose means of transport, in addition to raising the level of government coordination and cooperation, was highlighted. to the previously mentioned countries to raise levels of efficiency and improve the level of security and protection of the SC. While there is another study conducted by Hanig et al. (2023), followed the method of comparative analysis and the use of quantitative and qualitative factors in the analysis of six methods that were selected in the countries of South Korea and Europe. This study included several factors that focused on the quantitative method, including the distance traveled, the time required to transport goods, and the total cost, while the qualitative factors included reliability of multimodal logistical transport, flexibility, redundancy, information and logistics services, as well as security, protection, and public safety.

Duran et al. (2019), which focused on logistical transportation using the transcontinental railway system between Asia and Europe, conducted another study including the trans-Siberian railroad. The relevant literature has been reviewed. The relationship and conducting the necessary interviews to identify the enabling factors and obstacles to logistical transport using the transcontinental railways using PESTLE and highlighting suggestions and strategies that would reduce and limit the obstacles. This study dealt with several factors, most notably investment in logistical transport infrastructure, reliability and reliability of railway transport, capacity and absorptive capacity for transport, security, protection and public safety, climate, nature and geographical terrain, coordination and cooperation between governments of countries located on the two continents, energy consumption, and finally emissions Carbon Dioxide. A benchmarking study conducted by Lim et al. (2017), focused on the integration factor in the corridors in the international logistics transport road networks, where the comparative method of the selected pair from the gate to the corridor was used as a case study in Africa. The factors included in the study in evaluating the target corridor included transit time and time in days, the distance traveled from the gate to the market, the multimodal logistic transport performance index, public security and safety, environmental conditions, and the costs of different freight charges.

The literature related to this study was comprehensively reviewed, as it was found that there are several diverse factors directly affecting the development of TTM corridors, including political, economic, environmental, financial, and other factors. In addition, these factors have been classified into eight categories, some of which can be referred to and used as a theoretical structure in conducting this study. The first category included policy and development factors in the development of TTM corridors, while the second category included factors related to the protection, security, and public safety of supply chains, including TTM corridors. The third category referred to the factors related to the development of the TTM corridors from environmental protection. The fourth category included financial factors and investment opportunities in the development of TTM corridors, while the factors of infrastructure and the facilitation and facilitation of multimodal logistical transport were included in the fifth category. The sixth category, dealt with the difficulties and challenges faced by the infrastructure and its relationship to logistical transportation, while the factors that include nature, geographical topography, climate, and weather along TTM corridors were included in the seventh category. The eighth category included factors related to TTM corridors performance indicators, including focusing on factors that reduce total costs, including transportation costs, logistical freight, and savings in resources, including time, from the point of view of end users.

From the above-summarized information and from the reviewed literature, rarely have prior studies focused on the use and adoption of the e-tracking system to increase security and protection for all goods passing through transit to reduce smuggling, tax evasion practices, and customs duties. Further, this subject is not included in any of the studied categories in the previous studies. Therefore, this empirical study comes to tackle and focuses on this issue. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate TTM mobility locally and regionally, and the extent to which the customs measure systems and procedures in force in Jordan are compatible with the increase in commercial movement at all border crossings, whether land, sea, or even air in order to improve and facilitate traffic, and simplifying customs procedure. From this scenario, and due to the lack of studies that have been conducted on developing countries, in general, Jordan in particular, this study is conducted as a case study to be applied to include many neighboring countries, regionally and internationally. In addition, its focus is on applying and using an electronic transit system to monitor, control, and track commercial transit goods regardless of the approved channel for transportation, where air freight, trans-shipment as well as the temporary admission system remain an exception. Furthermore, it also considers the functional capabilities of the trading system and how it responds to the local, regional and global corridor.

There are many international conventions, which highlight the standards involved in the transit system such as the General Agreement on Traffic and Trade (GATT) in article 5. It provides a framework of the prime principles, which are associated with traffic trading that can be followed by any of the trading countries as per the freedom and no different standards of the trade. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) is one such convention, which the World Customs Organization (WCO) practices globally and provides the explanation of the technicalities involved as to how these are applied and executed in the trading practices augmented together by the assistance instruments; i.e. procedures followed in RKC and the compendium of the customs transit (Khan, 2015; Luo et al., 2022). The study of Arvis (2011) investigates the legitimate tools and briefly explained the requirements, which are generally applied in the customs transit as illustrated in Table 2.

Figure 1a. Transit trade mobility at a national and global level involving two ways from Jordan to various countries. Source: developed by author.

Figure 1c. Export transit mobility takes place to the international airport of Amman incepted from AL-Zarqa free zone. Source: developed by author.

Figure 1d. Transit trade mobility within the country takes place between custom offices i.e. one to another. Source: developed by author.

Table 2. The international convention issues provisions applied on the customs transit (Arvis, 2011, box 17.3, pp. 284)

1. General Trade freedom. Generally devoid of technical support No difference based on origin or flag of the owner. Prohibits pointless delays or limitations 2. Trade effort of the customs Inspection parameters No custom duties No protection of itinerary or products. No custom taxes charged No protection provided for goods nor taxes are charged on the misplaced goods No pointless interruptions or limitations. 3. Well-being and security If there are no contamination chances then no sanitary, veterinary, or phytosanitary is provided for trading products. 4. Carrier provisioned guarantees The guarantee type is selected by the declarant as per the legitimate standards. Without any disruption, the guarantees must be discussed once the trade is completed.

RKC provides two categories of transit. The first category is international transit, which is applicable to the transit movement and occurs between the official entries to its exit (Figure 1a). It can be seen that these transits take place when the movements are associated with the transit working, single in nature, and goes through many different countries in which the control is practiced by the transit system practiced at the national and international (Anarfo et al., 2017). National transit is the second category, which allows transit countries to import transit from the initial office to the customs office. Similarly, it allows the import transit present between customs offices in the same country (Figures 1b–1d). The custom transit is considered as the cargo expedition, which takes place as per the Customs regulations and its authorization that is necessary to be obliged by the Custom practices i.e. in the import transit. The practices adopted for local market transit or practices are followed in the transit export or by the transit for exiting the country (Anarfo et al., 2017; Duran et al., 2019).

Figure 1b. Importation transit mobility starts from Aqapa seaport to the local office of the custom. Source: developed by author.

It is obligatory for the individual who possesses the goods to show compliance to the legal necessities throughout the expedition of the trading operations, the same applied to his representative, which includes the freight forward, a carrier as well as the agent (Arvis, 2011). Generally, the product owner observes the Customs Broker and the clearing agents as a reliable agent as they possess the government-provisioned legitimate and authorized license, which allows them to lodge the declarations required for Custom on the behalf of the owner, sometimes referred to as power of attorney. As per RKC, the standards of trading are to be explained by every party involved in a contract for carrying out the trade with the cargo operation by the legal regulations set nationally. Hence, in some cases, it can be observed that the transit working variants across the countries within the same region (Kaminchia, 2019; Wolofsky et al., 2019).

In the cases pertaining to transit importation, the simple standards of customs transit should be followed to subside the pointless disruptions and costs. Therefore, the transit operations, which take place through roads and oceans follow an unaltered pattern of data on transit cargo (Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017; Chang et al., 2019). Consequently, the correct prediction of the duties, as well as taxes, is unnecessary based on their temporary nature through the operations of trading. Generally, the Customs declarations of the TTM need few elements of data as compared to the trade importation. Similarly, various technical procedures, such as veterinary and TTM sanitary are observed at the least extent through trade practices of governmental agencies when there is no possibility of contamination. Hence, the Customs inspection of the transit cargo mobility is less likely as well as by other bodies of the government in contrast to the trade importation (Arvis, 2011; Qian & Ukkusuri, 2021).

2.1. Evolution and emerging new trends in TTM

The latest emerging trends of TTM assistance as well as protection of the supply chain are investigated in the context of Custom measures and their practical execution by the use of the case studies involving various adjacent states (Lee & Lee, 2016). These states include countries like Uganda and Switzerland along with trading countries such as Jordan and Malaysia in corresponding to the enlisted factors, which are seven in total such as Information dissemination, operational guarantees, issued by system, latest information (pre-arrival), improved compliance of the operators and associated partners, infrastructure at the border and the execution of the progressive technology.

2.1.1. Information dissemination

The information dissemination is necessary to be practiced by the governmental bodies as well as effective for the transit trade mobility specifically by the departments involved in Customs. It improves the effectiveness of the standards of the Custom transit with respect to its monitoring and assistance (Corman et al., 2021; Huang et al., 2018). Possessing appropriate as well as correct information at departure is essential for the Custom departments, as well as other associated partners as these, are generally unaltered in the transit regardless of the modes adopted for trade (Cervantes-Sanmiguel et al., 2023; Tegebu & Seid, 2017). This information enables the custom to observe the prevailing risk associated with the goods, drivers, transportation channel, and the origin of port, its destination, product value, the number of illegal violations and more along with an additional understanding of data (Duran et al., 2019; Kamga et al., 2021; Lee & Lee, 2016; Tirkolaee et al., 2022). Therefore, it is essential to protect and safeguards the information disseminated that transnational cooperation must be established within the predetermined legal models for trade stability and certainty.

In several cases, the regional transit agreements are executed through the Custom Unions (Khan, 2015; Luo et al., 2022; Yasui, 2013). The European Commission (2004) stated that departure of the custom office dissimilates the information including the declarations, inspections outcomes, along with other relevant data in an automated manner concerning the Transit Trade mobility to the transit of the Custom offices as well as location, which is detailed out in the mode it uses (through the application of push system). This provides the Custom office with the chance to study the trade information prior to arrival to identify the potential cargo hazards. In case, they observe some inconsistency or discrepancy, additional inspection or examination can be carried out by the Custom Union.

The TTM, as well as exportation details, has been jointly shared by Uganda, part of the East African Community (EAC), with other associated members of EAC through the usage of Revenue Authorities Digital Data Exchange (RADDEx) system. The system improves the capability of the Uganda Custom officers for deriving the necessary information in a complete manner for cargo targeting as well as profiling (by the push system application) earlier to its arrival (Arvis, 2011). As per the evaluation provided by USITC (2012), a system called RADDEx 2.0, which is a single regional system, is being devised by many of the members of EAC to make the information flow smooth and consistent within the systems. The same system in the year 2011 covered about 90 percent of the TTM information shared from the Mombasa seaport in Kenya to Kampala in Uganda. Moreover, the system also mitigated the release time on the Uganda border to 3 hours, which previously took 3–4 days. By the use of the risk assessment as well as data assimilation, several fraudulent cases were also identified (Huang et al., 2018; Kaminchia, 2019).

2.1.2. Guarantee issued by Operational System

These are the crucial part of the TTM. So, the transit system guarantee is responsible to make certain that the taxes, as well as duties on custom are subsided throughout the operations of the transit and that these must be completed devoid of any difficulties with regard to the cases where certain payments are to be made (Lee & Lee, 2016; Saidi et al., 2023). The bond issued by the bank or guarantor insurance or someone else is used to cover the transit operation as well as release upon the completion of the transit operation (Hanig et al., 2023; Lim et al., 2017). The effectiveness of the regional, as well as transnational system of transit, surpass the efficiency of the China system present at the national level (Arvis, 2011). It has been highlighted in the study of European Commission (2004) that the regional guarantees are utilized by the European Union (EU) through the system of Common Transit System (CTS). The cargo value along with its associated risk can completely or partially end the transit guarantee. The study of Matrang (2012) forwards a statement highlighting the requirement of the Custom practices in Malaysia, where a guarantee is issued by the principle for cargo transit where the probability of risk is high.

2.1.3. Latest information (pre-arrival)

The prime priority of the custom standards practiced involves assisting the product flow among the countries across the world and to make certain that security is provided to evaluate the potential cargo risks as earliest as possible along with the associated supply chain in trade (Anarfo et al., 2017; Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017). There are certain Customs, which assist in the practices of cargo involving low-risk while some are more inclined towards assisting cargos where high risk prevails. To attain this objective, various legal obligations have been established by many customs based on the electronic admissibility of the data prior to and before the cargo arrives especially related to the issues concerning its security (Hanig et al., 2023; Iliopoulou et al., 2019; Saidi et al., 2023). Irrespective of the final place where cargo arrives, there are certain rules and regulations, which are applied in as well as out of the country involving the TTM (Yasui, 2013). From the year 2011, the European Union established the electronic rule of the earlier notification for all the trades, which take place through cargoes and enter the EU states through the channel of the road. A transit or a declaration entry summary has been instigated by the EU, which includes data security along with its protection. Such information is lodged one hour prior to the cargo’s arrival.

2.1.4. Increased compliance by operators and Associated Partners

The governmental agencies involved in the Custom must consider the issue, which is involved in the TTM, as well as security issues, which requires the assessment of compliance and security management hazards involving various operators performing in the role of carriers, exporters, importers, and customs brokers (Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017). The transit cargo mobility must be accompanied by the Custom, which falls under the low-risk category and is treated accordingly, whereas the cargoes, which falls in the high-risk category must be concentrated upon (Anarfo et al., 2017; Chang et al., 2019). The benefits must be provisioned by the authorized operators, which possess an extreme level of compliance status towards the legislation set at the regional as well as transnational levels. These benefits include the complete or partial subsiding of the guarantees of transit, fewer elements of data in the transit declaration, operator domicile clearance by the Custom, few inspections of the Customs as well as other governmental agencies (Kaminchia, 2019; Lim et al., 2017; Qian & Ukkusuri, 2021).

2.1.5. Borders infrastructure

The proper and adequate infrastructure of the country’s border assists in the mitigation of border congestion (AL-Shboul, 2017). Therefore, the borders present at the seaport and the land have arrangements, which follow a first-in-first-out; pattern, trucks, as well as containers are required to wait for one after the other at borders for the purpose of TTM. As per the evaluation of USITC (2012), it is indicated that the queue waiting time is considered the most frequent as well as time-consuming disruption in the corridors of TTM (Lapin, 2014). The facilitation with respect to TT forwarded by the WTO (World Trade Organization) emphasizes its members to establish separate TT infrastructure at the border such as in the form of lanes, berths, and more (WTO, 2012). Therefore, it is appropriate to think about a particular TT infrastructure at the country border where a significant proportion of transit traffic takes place. One of the likely explanations involving improved TTM serving requires the dedicated discrete transit lanes i.e. special zones as well as the provision of separate custom offices, which are available in the juxtaposed arrangement involving other governmental bodies (Hanig et al., 2023; Lee & Lee, 2016). Having a well-established infrastructure at the border, the issue of the clearance queue present at the border can be bypassed by the trucks, which will assist in saving time as well as accomplishing improved efficiency involved in the transit procedures when the border is being crossed. AL-Shboul (2016); Strauss & Corbin (1998) illustrates that the Customs Offices for the transit practices as well as coordination of Germany and Switzerland take place at the location present between the two countries, i.e. Basel border. These offices are considered juxtaposed offices, which are devised taking bilateral agreement as their source. A similar setting is practiced by the countries such as Switzerland and Italy where the trade transit juxtaposed is located among the countries at a place called the Chiasso border for improved coordination and cooperation (Khan, 2015; Luo et al., 2022). It has been emphasized by the Customs offices in Swiss that the completion of the transit practices must take place at the border whereas the clearance practices must be done at the terminals present on the national terminals of the Customs.

2.1.6. Executing progressive technology

In the global context, the common IT tool, which is adapted for meeting the objectives of Customs transit by various countries, is named Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA). The monitoring system, which has a Global Positioning System (GPS) as its base, is another tool as well as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which utilizes automatic cargo detection systems. The tools assist the Custom in monitoring the instruments and possess the capability to detect the physical movements of the cargo transit by utilizing various courses (Iliopoulou et al., 2019; Saidi et al., 2023). The use of these systems improves the discernibility and their interconnectivity with respect to the supply chain followed in TTM (Wegner & Verschoore, 2022). In Customs, the system used for tracking is considered an effective and efficient instrument, which provides high guarantee to enhance the regulations on Customs throughout the operations carried in transit and its route. The traditional procedures could have been adopted as a form of substitute, which includes the Custom convoys, regular inspection by transiting and crossing various points at the border and making use of the mechanical Customs seals (Chang et al., 2019; Goli et al., 2019).

It is indicated in Liu et al. (2020) and Matrang’s (2012) studies that the use of RFID seals by Malaysia is common when transit containers are being sent for trading. The seals serve as an automated source of information for transit container or truck as it passes the border checkpoints of custom (both on land as well as in oceans and seas). Therefore, the system has checkpoints, which are based on the system to automatically release the checkpoint information when the destination is reached once all the requirements are fulfilled (Corman et al., 2021; Huang et al., 2018). The RFID system reduced the mean time consumed on each container such as 47 minutes by utilizing the automated clearance.

It is illuminated in the Duran et al. (2019) study that the Jordan Custom for the purpose of TTM track is utilizing the electronic TTM. The Jordan Custom makes use of the GPS tracking system at the department, which is wirelessly integrated together through two electronic seals affixed on the truck as well as the container. This allows the tracking of the movement of the TTM through the system within the determined course throughout its expedition in the real time by using the satellite signal gathered from the GPS. In case, the truck for transit changes its route which was determined, or make an opening of the container, which is prohibited by the law when no custom authority is present, or when an irregularity is identified, there is an alarm which can be rung by the control room. In case any of the above scenarios occur, the mobile team available at the nearest will be moved to stop the transit truck and capture it for investigation within the set parameter of thirty minutes (Alfitiani, 2016).

The driver is required to return the devices to the customs office once the destination has been reached. At the departure point, the driver has a choice to either return the devices that the system uses for monitoring and tracking or not, if he chooses to take the devices then an amount of about US 32$ is to be paid on every truck or they can also wait for some hours to follow the Custom convoys and at times wait overnight. From the year 2011, the transit truck prefers to utilize the tracking system, which is preferred among transit truck drivers to mitigate the time spent waiting at the country borders, ranging from 8 hours to a few minutes. This has resulted in a decline in the transit journey time by about sixty percent. The border congestion by the transit truck has also declined significantly, leading to improved traffic in the country Jordan i.e. about 80 percent, as well as the decline in the rate of smuggling activities to a minimum level throughout the operations carried out in transit.

3. Research methodology

The method adopted for carrying out the present study is qualitative in nature. Qualitative studies enrich an in-depth understanding of several real-world phenomena in general and supply chain security and TTM discipline in particular. The research done by Strauss and Corbin (1998) provides that the qualitative nature of the research eliminate all the types of methods, which integrate the use of numbers and statistics or means, deviating from the qualitative nature of the research. Thus, it covers any type of research that produces findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other means of quantification. The qualitative nature of the research illustrates the study, which involves observation of the individual’s life, their experiences, behavioral characteristics, sentiments, and feelings. It also assimilated the organizational operational feelings, cultural aspects, social patterns, along with the interaction, which occurs among the nations. It also assimilated the organizational, operational feelings, cultural aspects, social patterns, and interaction among the nations (AL-Shboul, 2016). Hence, qualitative research’s interdisciplinary qualities provide for an in-depth understanding of a specific event, and its nature of specificity allows it to necessarily lead to concrete results that are at the same time, true to life and full of ideas. It encompasses an amalgamation of the interdisciplinary characteristics, which provide a profound comprehension of a particular incident along with the nature evaluation of the results obtained as well as the meaning they bring to life along with the projection of ideas (Ruyter & Scholl, 1998). The qualitative data was adopted by reviewing the secondary data in nature such as statistical reports and existing studies.

The research design for this study includes an instrument chosen and formulated for data collection in order to check and pass the validity and reliability tests before considering it as a good measure. The reliability of a measure has been achieved due to consistent answers by the respondents, and there is no bias occurred by the researcher(s) when received their answers; additionally, it measured the concepts as it is presumed to measure (Sekaran, 2003). Furthermore, reliability has been achieved through conducted tests and re-test of the measure, and the questions were asked and administered to the same interviewee at different periods and already achieved the same answers, or equivalent to the reliability when using the same test with different wordings or sequence of questions that resulting the same answers. On the other hand, validity was achieved for this study by conducting a pilot study of the research instrument. A pilot study is considered a small research scale or a trial run performed in order to prepare for a large-scale study, and this may lead to conduct specifically to pre-test a study instrument. Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) argue that this technique is useful for both quantitative and qualitative studies; and it is considered a fundamental technique, which serves the function of supporting deleting/changing/modifying/refining/rephrasing/clarifying some required items and/or questions for possible flaws in the measurement instrument. Therefore, pre-testing has occurred of the instrument on a small number of targeted respondents who have the same features as those in the main study. Thus, Berg (2004) emphasized that a pilot-study question helps the researcher(s) to discover all unclear or ambiguous questions/words, and statements in the research protocol and this can add value and credibility to the entire study (Van Wijk & Harrison, 2013).

3.1. Data collection and analysis

Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews over a three-month period, between April and June 2022. JC as a case study was involved in the service sector from Jordan country. All the participants’ targeted respondents are managers at all levels; customs employees in different branches, truck drivers as well as commercial partners and traders involved in transit trade. A total of 176 interviewees participated and shared in this study from Jordan. The researcher(s) used qualitative data management software named NVivo as a tool in order to analyze the gathered data from the targeted interviewees.

3.2. Interviews settings

For this study, the researcher(s) used face-to-face semi-interviews as a research tool, which offered a comfortable atmosphere, aside from the uninterrupted time that is estimated to be adequate for the conduct of the interview, and required settings for the targeted respondents without any noises atmosphere, this leads removed all distractions and made recording easier. The questions were included in semi-structured interviews, focused on, to a large or less extent the following areas: the effect of the e-tracking system on TTM mobility; the impact of the e-tracking system on facilitating TTM, improving supply chain security through TTM mobility, and JC performance as a whole; and the effect of e-tracking system on smuggling practices by trading partners; and how JC might play a vital role as a hub for regional TTM. The main topics covered in the interviews came from the literature. For more details, see Table 3.

Table 3. Semi-structured interviews and evidence of data-collection

Firm/Company	Interviews (#. of Interviewees, Interviewee, no. of interviews, and interviews length in min.)	Evidence of data collection (Location, date, and no. of hours spent)
JC	(4, Planning manager, 4, 25) (3, TT manager, 3, 45) (51, Internal employees, 51, 155) (6, customs officers, 7, 48) (8, IT manger, 8, 112) (1, Senior manager, 2, 21) (2, Internal employees, 2, 24) (1, Logistics manager, 1, 17) (6, Risk analysis manager, 6, 38)	(Jordan, May/June 2022, 8.08 hrs.)
TT Truck Drivers	(72, Truck drivers, 72, 378)	(Jordan at all terminals (i.e., land borders, seaport, and airport), April 2022, 6.3 hrs.)
Trading Partners	(1, CEO, 1, 18) (1, Vis-president, 2, 13) (1, Service manager, 1, 11) (1, Operations manager, 2, 18) (1, Senior manager, 2, 21) (1, IT manager, 1, 16) (1, Logistics manager, 1, 13)	(Jordan, April/May 2022, 1.8 hrs.)
Business Firms	(2, Vis-president, 2, 16) (1, Senior manager, 2, 14) (2, Service manager, 2, 22) (1, Site manager, 2, 6) (1, Logistics manager, 1, 15) (8, Business people, 8, 42)	(Jordan, May/June 2022, 1.91 hrs.)

The nature of the research aligns with the determined objective of the study to examine and share the information with respect to the use of the e-trading system, which has emerged as a result of unprecedented growth in technology. It uses the system for tracking and regulating the supply chain as well as operations conducted at a national and international level with the customs present within or outside. Furthermore, it also intends to assist in the TTM at both levels in the country such as the regional and international along with reviewing the case studies of different countries for the emerging trends due to the advancement in technology concerning the electronic transit traffic (Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017; Iliopoulou et al., 2019).

4. Results and discussion

To provide an answer to the determined research question i.e. “In the context of regional and international transit trade mobility, can Jordan be considered as a center point in the transit trade mobility in the Middle East?” The practices of the Customs in Jordan must be studied through the application of various instruments and techniques for proper management of the traffic at the local as well as regional level (Chang et al., 2019; Duran et al., 2019). Table 4, summarizes the items/factors that are/and are not included in this study with other studies in the literature.

Table 4. Summarizes the items/factors that are/and are not included in this study with other studies in the literature

Items/factors existing in this study	Items/factors found in the literature	Author(s)
Facilitating trade	Facilitation system, trade facilitation, paperless trade, determinants of trade, trade facilitation indicators, trade facilitation reform, cross-border facilitation.	Alfitiani (2016), AL-Shboul (2016), Huang et al. (2018), GTI (2015), Lim et al. (2017), USITC (2012), Kamga et al. (2021), Lee and Lee (2016).
Transit trade mobility	Regional and international transit trade mobility, transit trade corridor, international trade routes, logistics infrastructure and trade, transport corridors, developing transit trade corridors.	Lim et al. (2017), Diao et al. (2023), Alfitiani (2016), AL-Shboul (2016), Matrang (2012), Khan (2015), Duran et al. (2019), GTI (2014b).
E-tracking system	Tracking system, e-transit tracking.	Anarfo et al. (2017), Tegebu and Seid (2017), Alfitiani (2016), AL-Shboul (2016).
Strategic location of Jordan and TT	N/A	AL-Shboul (2016).
In terms of transit trade within Jordan country, how does the e-tracking system for transit function?	Internal transit, electronic transit monitoring.	Alfitiani (2016), AL-Shboul (2016).
Management of violation	N/A	N/A
Impact of tracking system for Transit Trade on smuggling cases.	Electronic transit monitoring, effect on smuggling.	AL-Shboul (2016), Alfitiani (2016).
Is the Electronic Transit Tracking System present in Jordan can be applicable for monitoring at regional and International level (Considering it as a regional centre or hub)?	N/A	N/A

4.1. Strategic location of Jordan and TTM

Trade Transit mobility is recognized to play a prime role towards the development of the economy at the national level, which also provides a way for smuggling of the goods. On a yearly basis, more than hundred thousand truck for trade transit is crossed through Jordan. The destination of Jordan contributes significantly as a strategic mean due to its prime route for Europe, Arabian Gulf Countries (AGC), and Africa for trade. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. Jordan location on earth (middle East Google Map, 2023).

The Jordan Customs (JC) prime objective is to utilize a system to provide high security as well as reliability in terms of TTM monitoring and tracking such as the e-system. This help in the improvement of the regulation on the shipments of the transit along with its integrity sustainment of the cargo seals, which are placed on the shipment not influencing the TF (AL-Shboul, 2016, 2017; Alfitiani, 2016). The adaptation and usage of the tracking technology are limited to the control of the TTM serves with regard to its passing as well as crossing from the region of Jordan to the other areas and worldwide countries. In the year 2008, this system was executed in the country, though; it only monitored the regional transit within the country.

With the adoption of the electronic tracking system, the capability of the customs authorities is amplified in terms of control (Luo et al., 2022; Matrang, 2012). The system allows them to conduct a real-time surveillance from a central room of the transit shipping of the trucks, which range in thousands at the same time (Anarfo et al., 2017; Kodongo & Ojah, 2016). Figure 3 has demonstrated the surveillance room, which is used for monitoring the transit shipping of the trucks. In case an illegal incident took place or prohibited action of the driver, the system records all the event by preparing a report in a timely manner. Furthermore, the system also monitors the transit truck position as well as status and the movement, which takes place corresponding to its predetermined schedule, time as well as distance (Huang et al., 2018; Kamga et al., 2021).

Figure 3. Online monitoring of transit trucks (JCD, 2021).

The system also eradicates the need for escorting the transit truck on their set route as it uses the electronic geophones which are set on the predetermined routes along with the areas where the prospects of smuggling activities exist. The alarm is rung by the control room when an activity of the transit truck deviates from its pre-established route. Subsequent to the initiation of the transit trip, the system determines the transit route and highlights the exit as well as starting border crossing points. The alarm is rung by the control room when an activity of the transit truck deviates from its pre-established route (Cervantes-Sanmiguel et al., 2023; Tegebu & Seid, 2017). As the transit route is started by the truck, the system activates its surveillance and makes use of the tracking units at the final tracking point as well as electronic seals installation at the beginning and end of the border crossing point respectively. The border crossing entry point is where the tracking unit, as well as the installed seal, is removed when the transit trip is completed (Alfitiani, 2016). Following it, an electronic preparation of the report takes place in the control room of the custom, which is inclusive of all the information pertaining to illegal acts and movements throughout the trip of transit.

4.2. In terms of transit within Jordan country, how does the e-tracking system for transit function?

The e-system used for tracking the transit mobility in Jordan makes use of the GPS technology in its customs control room for electronic monitoring of the transit as well as its location tracking as the truck crosses the borders of Jordan (Huang et al., 2018; Kodongo & Ojah, 2016). For the communication with the transit truck driver, the technology of Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is adopted which assist in the unit tracking and is positioned beside the driver of the truck. The electronic seals are placed on the door of the container utilized for shipping as it ensures that the door remains closed throughout the transit trip. Doing this also mitigates the prospects for segregation of the tractor and the trailer. The transit truck trip is observed through the digital maps in the control room, which exhibit the geographical representation of the movement of the truck and the wireless network along with Personal Data Assistant (PDA) utilized by the customs offices for starting and ending the transit trip.

The inception of the tracking of the transit truck initiates as it enters the center of the custom center and once it has completed all the necessary custom obligations. Following it, the transit truck moves to the electronic transit yard that is positioned at the exit of the container, subsequent to which the configuration of the tracking units and the electronic seal take place, after which the trucks are provided with their predetermined route for transit (Corman et al., 2021; Lee & Lee, 2016). The control room system detects the units after which the truck can be seen on the screen. When the risk is high, the length of the transit is kept short and vice versa, due to the risk and assigning is done through the use of the electronic system to evaluate the risk on the computer. At the arrival of the truck at the customs exit center, the details of the trip are compiled together in the form of a report by the system. The details are inclusive of the practices carried involving the violations, which had taken place in transit. The officer of the Customs is assigned the duty to evaluate the system generated a report, dismiss the transit trip as well as removal of the electronic seal and the tracking unit. The unit for transit can be charged again to be utilized in another transit trip which is going on different route (Lee & Lee, 2016; Lim et al., 2017).

4.2.1. Management of violation

If during the transit trip, violations have taken place in the transit truck driver involving activities of divergence from its predetermined path, taking breaks at restricted places, or interfering or meddling with the transit products, the alarm rings at the control room and after which the mobile team available at nearest is send to stop the transit truck and study the violation that has taken place. Afterwards, it submits a comprehensive report for the violations occurred to the accountable authority in the control room.

Considering the strategic positioning of the country Jordan, the manager of the Jordan Customs (JC) is heading thousands of TTM, which are taking place by crossing the Jordan land. Considering the scenario of the previous five years i.e. from 2017 to 2021, the transit automobile number range up to 159,201.

The transit cargoes number, as well as the center of customs involved, are exhibited in Table 2 and in Figure 4 respectively. It can be concluded from examination of the outcomes, which are exhibited in Table 5.

Figure 4. Total transit traffic mobility through Jordan borders during the period (2016–2020).

1. The custom centers in areas of Aqaba, AL-Omary, AL-Zarqa Free Trade Zoon, AL-Hasan, and Amman had intense TTM around eighty percent.

2. The responsibility of the Directorate of the anti-smuggling is centered on the cases, which took place in the transit journey.

3. The cargoes were faced with intense risk in the following transit paths:

   1. Incepted at the custom border of Jabir and ended at the custom border of AL-Omary along with free zone customs houses at AL-Zarqa and AL-Hasan.

   2. Incepted at the custom border of Aqaba and ended at the custom border of AL-Omary along with free zone customs houses at AL-Zarqa.

   3. Incepted at the custom border of Aqaba and ended at the custom border of AL-Karamah along with customs houses at Amman.

Table 5. Total transit cargoes and traffic during the last 5 years (2017–2021)

Customs center	Jabir	AL-Omary	AL-Zarqa- Free Zone	Amman	AL-Modawarh	Al-Hasan	Al-Karak	Aqaba	AL-Karamah	Sahab	Total
2017	1975	5762	5312	3652	862	2723	762	6751	972	521	29292
2018	2231	6752	6001	4762	273	4821	812	7711	1011	599	34973
2019	5296	7762	8284	5982	630	5528	863	8973	1087	652	45057
2020	3967	2424	1629	1978	221	2923	659	3827	2167	752	20547
2021	4342	4143	3761	2872	482	3982	868	4823	3064	995	29332
Total	17811	26843	24987	19246	2468	19977	3964	32085	8301	3519	159201

The cases of illegitimate violations occurred throughout the period from 2017 to 2021 have been exhibited in Table 5. The findings as highlighted in the Table 6 demonstrates the percentage according to which four percent of the transit drivers chose a different path from their predetermined route, which resulted because of the short route available or to avoid the traffic jams, whereas, the meddling with the transit good by the driver was around two percent and which removed the transit unit from the truck as reported by the responsible customs staff at the authorized stop.

Table 6. Illegal important violation cases during applying an electronic transit tracking trips (2017–2021)

	Total no. of Transit Trips	Deviation from the Pre-Assigned Route	Tampering with the Tracking Unit and/or the E-seal
Total	159201	6865	2722
Percentage of Transit Trips	94%	4.3%	1.70%

4.2.2. Impact of e-tracking system for transit trade on smuggling cases

To evaluate the influence caused by the electronic system of tracking transit on the smuggling activities, a comparative analysis of the smuggling activities took place prior and subsequent to introduction of the electronic system in TTM. The smuggling activities of the years from 2000 up to 2010, and from years 2011 up to 2021 were considered where the electronic system was slowly being implemented in 2011. It can be observed form Table 7 that the cases of smuggling in the custom centers of Jordan decreased to around eighty five percent or more at all Jordan’s customs centers after an application of the transit tracking system. See Figure 5

Figure 5. Total no. of smuggling cases before and after application of an electronic transit mobility tracking system at Jordanian customs centers (2000–2020)

Table 7. Total no. of smuggling cases before and after application of an electronic transit tracking system for transit trade at Jordan customs centers (2000–2021

Customs center	Before Electronic TT Tracking System (Years) 2000–2010	After Electronic TT Tracking System (Years) 2011–2021	Reduction (%)
Jabir	5505	1124	79.5
AL-Omary	2349	277	88.2
Aqaba-Free Zone	4652	926	80.1
Amman	761	41	94.6
AL-Modawarh	2012	261	87.0
Al-Hasan	2703	212	92.1
Al-Karak	1531	166	89.1
Aqaba	2651	342	87.1
AL-Karamah	1791	285	84.1
Sahab	656	75	88.5

Some advantage was provided to the customs centers in Jordan subsequent to application of electronic transit tracking system, such as:

1. The escort was provided to just fifteen percent of transit trucks based on the high value and duty goods.

2. The intense level of TTM at the customs yard was eradicated (waiting of the trucks and their convoy joining).

3. Percentage of TTM increased in terms of Jordan land crossing i.e. ninety percent.

4. Supply chain security prospects have become high because of the improved monitoring of the TTM as they cross the land in Jordan.

5. The decrease in the waiting time concerning all types of transit containers. It is because the unloading took place at the Aqaba port because of the electrical tracking at the terminal port to the regional customs house for physical inspection in contrast to the scrutiny at the terminal port.

6. The security of the supply chain has not been compromised by the Jordan Customs.

7. It was endorsed by the managers and the truck drivers through the interviews that they prefer the use of the electronic system for tracking and are willing to pay for the services rather than adopting the conventional escort practice.

8. The traders, as well as transit drivers, are provided with the electronic system adoption choice, where the $40.

9. It is reported that the smuggling activities is reduced to a great extent in the transit trading in Jordan, subsequently to the electronic transit tracking system application.

10. The mean time for the whole transit expedition has declined by more than about eighty percent. Such as, the trip of the transit from Jabir border at the Syrian-Jordanian border to AL-Omary border at the Jordanian-Saudi Arabi border. The time has mitigated from mean eight hours to three and a half. It has also reduced the time for transit to 12 hours from Aqaba terminal seaport to AL-Karamah border at the Iraqian-Jordanian border, which was previously, took three days, and exhibited in Tables 8 & 9.

    Table 8. Transit journey time from Jabir border at Syrian—Jordanian border to AL-Omary border at Saudi-Jordanian border after an application of tracking system for TT

    Truck Plate no.	GPS Unit no.	Transit Trip Time (hrs.)	Truck Plate no.	GPS Unit no.	Transit Trip Time (hrs.)
    1	6726	3:01	11	1882	4:01
    2	8720	3:27	12	0972	3:16
    3	5621	3:51	13	6282	3:29
    4	7871	3:27	14	8711	4:15
    5	5179	3:38	15	2982	4:09
    6	3586	3:17	16	1827	3:51
    7	9727	4:21	17	4227	4:12
    8	6098	4:17	18	6528	3:48
    9	8726	3:15	19	5628	3:13
    10	4881	4:12	20	6262	3:36
    Average Transit Trip Time = 3:42 hrs.

    Table 9. Transit journey time from Aqaba terminal seaport to AL-Karamah border at iraqian-Jordanian border after an application of tracking system for TT

    Truck Plate no.	GPS Unit no.	Transit Trip Time (hrs.)	Truck Plate no.	GPS Unit no.	Transit Trip Time (hrs.)
    1	7617	11:04	11	8729	12:25
    2	3827	10:44	12	6728	13:54
    3	8727	12:14	13	7277	10:45
    4	6719	10:22	14	8724	13:32
    5	5982	13:06	15	4744	14:11
    6	8975	12:34	16	6729	10:54
    7	4843	11:22	17	8373	13:17
    8	9828	12:13	18	7111	14:11
    9	6722	13:44	19	2383	11:48
    10	3737	12:28	20	1726	10:04
    Average Transit Trip Time = 12:06 hrs.

Is the Electronic Transit Tracking System present in Jordan can be applicable for monitoring at the regional and International levels (considering it as a regional center or hub)?

As per the strategic positioning of the Jordan country in the Middle East, it is made the central office for monitoring the Transit Trade with regard to the trade activities carried out in the region as well as global (Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017; Hanig et al., 2023). The answer to the study question is through offering all required resources and elements for adopting and going in this scenario increasing the level of EDI and collaboration among countries in the region in parallel with adopting the required and up-to-date IT technology. This for sure will increase SC security levels in the whole region and countries it joined this center, which is teamwork efforts instead of separately in narrow approach and implementation. Then this idea can be expanded in includes other regional areas and linked together within specific rules and protocols for TTM cargo mobility for a more collaborative level of SC security. Through planning and establishing of legalized standards, institutes harmonization, collaboration, and smooth flow of the actions, will lead to an increase in the reliability and steadiness of the communication instrument, using advanced technology and other related elements utilized for controlling the transit movements of traffic and products. Thus, establishing regional consensus with neighboring countries specifically related to CUs to be introduced as the office with the system, which uses electronic monitoring techniques for TTM in the region of MENA (Khan, 2015; Luo et al., 2022). It enters into an international agreement with different international countries in order to obtain the objective of improved security for supply chain along with facilitation in transit whilst reducing the chances of fraudulent practices in it such as smuggling; it also improves the economic relationship with different countries as well as its competitiveness as exhibited in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Jordan as a central regional office (hub) in the middle East using electronic TTM tracking system (middle East Google Map).

Some concerns are highlighted which must be considered in order to make the electronic tracking system of Jordan reliable, secure as well as effective at both regional and international level as follows:

1. Harmonization, collaboration, as well as the interaction of the countries and associated partners involved in transit trade.

2. The earlier and pre-declaration of the transit cargo to the Jordan custom department through electronic means from the area of the departure for transit encompassing detail of the products, the driver details, the product weight, container number as well as transit route (in case crossing the country/countries) for tracking at national and international level.

3. Installation of the electronic seal in a proper manner along with its configuration which are made active on the transit truck (i.e. two in one) or they can be installed at the doors of the transit cargo when it is departing in order to sustain its coordination with the Union Customs to reduce the probability of the meddling with products.

4. Appropriate seals are required to link the trailer to the tractor in order to avoid the separation of two parties.

5. The import and export data must be derived from the automated customs system for the purpose of a declaration by the tracking system using the electronic channel.

6. The wireless communication should take place such as GPS with the units of transit tracking and should be able to send an instantaneous to custom control room in case tampering of goods has occurred.

7. The portable tracking unit to be used should be easy to install, configure, and remove; installation process is easy and consumes less time (not more than two minutes). It must also have a durable and heavy-duty battery with increased battery life, which lasts for weeks, that is active throughout the transit trip from its departure point to ending point considering the time required in each country along with the power to ring the alarm in case tampering of the transit cargo.

8. The X-ray mobile scanners must be used for the transit cargo as it crosses the borders of different countries, whereas, the truck must be is scanned at the entrance, which produced an image of the X-ray along with the report of the transit trip. The truck is scanned at the exit border, where the comparison is held of the two pictures to make certain that no illegitimate practice took place with regard to the transit goods throughout the journey prior to transit truck exiting a country.

To increase the security level, and for more protection means of transport of flowing and movement of transit goods within the supply chain, and during passing and crossing different borders, the researcher recommends applying and using of smart sensors such as wireless devices (such as GPS) is suggested in a parallel manner with the tracking that takes place in the transit tracking involving the internal installation of light detectors within the containers. This will ring the bell in the case when the container door opens within the transit sending a signal or alarm the central control room of Jordan (double-check security for monitoring transit trade with electronic transit tracking system) as exhibited in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Light detector system can be installed within the container in parallel with electronic tracking system for TTM.

Certain cases have been reported pertaining to the transit truck activities of the smuggling on the route from the seaport of Aqaba to custom houses at Amman, as the containers doors were removed from their actual fixed points. This was done by cutting the door edges, which opened the container door despite the presence of an electronic seal, though; the tracking system was not able to send an alarm to the central custom control room as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Despite the presence of the electronic seal and no opening of container doors, smuggling took place.

5. Conclusion

This study highlighted on the significant improvement in trade activities (i.e., TTM) in Jordan at both domestic, regional, as well as international levels with the use of transit facilitation through the adoption of an e-tracking system for the TTM (Bonfatti & Poelhekke, 2017). Like the use of this system has strengthened the economic development and competitiveness of Jordan country and in parallel with other countries in the world. Therefore, this system assists in improving the country’s position as the canter of logistics and TTM corridors (Hanig et al., 2023). Thus, Jordan plays a vital role to be centered in the Middle East for facilitating the trade, and improving SC security through the investment in TTM (i.e., e-tracking) for the customs and mitigating the risks from terrorism across regionally, globally, and smuggling practices as well.

This research adopted a case study methodology for the exhibition of the emerging trends with respect to the e-tracking system for TTM; this system is used for surveillance as well as trade facilitation. Jordan as a developing country was studied in the light of the six factors encompassing the dissemination of information, guarantees of the operational system, latest information (pre-arrival), improved agreement of the operators and associated partners, infrastructure at the border, and the execution of the progressive technology (Alfitiani, 2016). The system purposely adopted and executed will have a significant influence in making the trade between the countries smooth at the regional and global levels, which drives the advancement of the supply chain along with the expansion of the accelerating main logistical activities (i.e., transit trade corridor transport). In addition, it can also toughen the collaboration relationship present between the countries in the global context that pushes them towards the establishment of the legal framework in correspondence to the Customs Unions for the effective execution of the system (Chang et al., 2019). In addition to stakeholders that are involved in public and private sectors that requires coordination, as well as cooperation.

The findings of the study exhibited that TTM cost significantly declined for Jordan and other countries through the adoption of e-tracking systems in their customs and trading activities; this finding consistent with other studies in the literature (e.g., AL-Shboul, 2017). Consequently, the use of the e-tracking system for TTM reduces the need for its escorting the trailers and trucks by the JC, where bulky and high-duty good remains an exception. Improved use of e-transit traffic has been observed, whereas the meantime for the overall transit trading mobility has been, shorten to more than eighty percent, which is followed by reduced smuggling practices rates by almost more than eighty percent, and finally the percentage of TTM increased in terms of Jordan land crossing by ninety percent. All these findings are also very close with outcomes indicated in prior studies in the literature as Alfitiani (2016), GTI (2015), and Khan (2015).

The strategic positioning of Jordan in the Middle East can be the central office for monitoring the TTM with respect to the trade activities carried out in the region; as well as in the MENA region or even internationally (i.e., considering Jordan as a regional centre or hub for TTM using an e-tracking system). Thus, by planning, establishing a well devised, and introduction of legalized standards, institutes harmonization as well as collaboration, smooth flow of the actions, increased reliability and steadiness of the communication instrument. Further, using of advanced technology as well as other related elements utilized for controlling the transit movements of traffic and products, establishing regional consensus with neighbouring countries specifically that are related to CUs to be introduced as the office with the system, which uses electronic monitoring techniques for TTM in the region of MENA. Thus, the proposed this scenario is consistent relatively with some other studies’ findings as Lim et al. (2017), Alfitiani (2016), and Bonfatti and Poelhekke (2017). It can also enter into an international agreement with different international countries to obtain the objective of improved security for the SC along with facilitation in transit whilst reducing the chances of fraudulent practices in it such as smuggling. It also improves the economic relationship with different countries as well as its competitiveness (e.g., Kaminchia, 2019).

To amplify the security level and protection of TTM through the SC logistical activities, the use of smart sensors (i.e., light and motion sensors via wireless communication devices (such as GPS)) is suggested in a parallel manner with an e-tracking system that takes place in the transit trade tracking involving the internal installation of light detectors within the containers. This will give an alarm (i.e., ringing the bell) in the case when the container door opens within the transit sending a signal or alarm to the central control room of Jordan (which installs the reporting and tracking of the transit orders).

5.1. Limitations and future research

The study follows some gaps as well as its weaknesses, which thwart its reach. Most countries across the globe are aware of the significance that results from the utilization of the advanced technology with respect to the monitoring as well as improvement of the supply chain trading which occurs among various countries. Though, unfortunately, the countries still lack the knowledge on the adaptation of the effective tool and practices along with their inclination towards the adoption of certain practices, which can significantly contribute its improved success. Therefore, the research has made use of various countries as case studies for monitoring them. However, the possibility exists that there might be some more effective and improved practices available with regard to the TTM monitoring around the country.

Moreover, the study is confined under the certain bracket due to the shortage of time and chiefly using secondary means for obtaining data in the system. The research study was successful in carrying out the interviews with the managers involved in the TTM operations as their position carries great responsibility with respect to transit truck drivers, its traders and more, which provide justification for their busy schedule and non-cooperation with the researcher, as they had no time for interview or provision of required data to the interview required by the researcher. So, the researcher suggests that more data and more interviews should be conducted to increase the effectiveness of the results and study as a whole. For this, the triangulation method is proposed by the researcher, which assimilates the questionnaire technique as well as the comprehensive interviews in a structured manner for gathering the required data and examining the TTM among the countries in the facilitation and monitoring aspects.

The manager, the truck driver as well as the managers interviewed all reside in the same country is not suitable for the adequate collection of the data with regard to the TTM facilitation, which may produce inaccurate results and measurements. So, it has been in the researcher to integrate more transit truck drivers, as well as traders which belong to various countries. Future studies should follow a diversified method with respect to data collection.

Lastly, with respect to the future direction of the research, we propose to conduct both quantitative (i.e., survey) and qualitative methodology (i.e., interviews) for data collection to get more accurate results of data analysis, instead of using only one single method. Additionally, using a risk assessment procedure is suggested with the e-transit trade tracking system. The utilization of this procedure will provide the risk, the category of the risk involved, and the impact caused by that risk, which prevails on the part of the truck driver involved in the transit. Application of such a technique/procedure can be established on the background of the driver, the nature of the goods transported, and previous involvement in illegal activities or practices (i.e. criminal records), which can cause severe damage, have not been highlighted in the study. Further, we suggest including more countries to be studied to expand the study scope and gives more comprehensive view about the facilitation trade and enhancing the SC security through TTM in the Middle East region.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest: We declare no conflict interest between all authors in this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This study is not funded by any entity.

Notes on contributors

Moh’d Anwer AL-Shboul

Moh’d Anwer AL-Shboul is an Associate Professor in Business Administration Department at Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT)/Jordan, since 2018, and previously was working in Logistics Sciences Department at German-Jordanian University/GJU, Jordan from 2013 till 2018. He has published many articles in leading international Journals in the areas of SCM, logistics sciences, operations management and its implementations, Jordan in particular, Arabic and regional countries in general. Dr. AL-Shboul earned his PhD from Bradford University, UK (2012); MBA from Yarmouk University in Jordan (2002); additionally, AL-Shboul has double major (BSc.) in the areas of Electrical Engineering/Telecommunication from JUST (1992) and Business Administration from Yarmouk University (2000), Jordan. Dr. AL-Shboul has long academic and professional experience in the areas of teaching as an instructor in Business and Electrical Engineering; had worked at Jordan Customs for more than ten years and more than ten years in Electrical Engineering in several Jordanian companies. His current research interests include lean and agile supply chain, supply chain management, Logistics sciences, supply chain responsiveness, and operations management.