In recent years, global supply chains have been disrupted by major shocks, from the COVID‑19 pandemic to geopolitical tensions, revealing vulnerabilities in how goods move across borders and how firms manage risk. At the same time, supply chains have become more concentrated, amplifying the impact of shocks: the share of import-concentrated goods has risen by 50% from the late 1990s to the early 2020s. As a result, resilience has become an economic necessity. Resilient supply chains are not those without risk, but those able to anticipate, absorb, and adapt to shocks – an ability increasingly dependent on digital tools that enhance visibility, agility, and responsiveness (OECD, 2025[1]).
Within this evolving landscape, supply chains are being shaped by a range of forces, among which two stand out for their growing influence. The first is the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced analytics that are transforming how information is processed and how decisions are made, including across logistics and border operations. The second is the growing wave of environmental requirements (Deconinck, Jansen and Barisone, 2023[2]), which entail that firms need to collect, verify, and transmit detailed information about how products are produced, transported, and certified. Although these forces arise from different policy and technological domains, they converge increasingly at the border, where goods, data, and compliance obligations intersect.
In navigating both disruption and transformation, trade facilitation plays a pivotal role. Effective border procedures – whether through streamlined documentation, risk‑based controls, or co‑ordinated inspections – help maintain the steady flow of goods even in times of crisis, as demonstrated during the pandemic (OECD, 2020[3]). Trade facilitation also enables firms to diversify suppliers and markets, supporting resilience by lowering trade costs and increasing operational flexibility. These same mechanisms are becoming essential as border agencies and firms confront the growing data and compliance demands created by both AI‑enabled processes and new environmental regulations.
Crucially, the ability of trade facilitation frameworks to respond to these drivers depends on the strength of a shared digital foundation. AI can only enhance risk management, document processing, or targeting when the underlying data are digitised, standardised, and machine‑readable. Similarly, environmental requirements – such as those concerning emissions reporting, compliance with deforestation requirements, or other traceability measures – can only be implemented cost efficiently when information can travel effectively and securely along the supply chain and across borders requiring the underlying data on environmental performance to be standardised and digitised so that it is machine‑readable. In both cases, digital tools, trusted data, and technical interoperability form the backbone that enables border processes to scale and adapt.
Reflecting these shared requirements, this report links the efficiency and environmental sustainability agendas through a unified digital lens. The first part (Chapters 2 and 3) explores how AI and digitalisation are transforming international trade and border management, focusing on how AI‑enabled capabilities – such as analytics, automation, and decision support – can strengthen trade facilitation functions. This includes a special focus on the case of Korea in using emerging technologies such as AI for trade facilitation. The second part (Chapters 4 and 5) examines the implications of emerging environmental requirements for border operations and end-to-end digitalised trade processes (going paperless), and highlights the role of digital tools, data integrity, and interoperability in supporting compliance while minimising disruptions. Together, the two parts illustrate how a common digital infrastructure can help supply chains advance efficiency, resilience and environmental performance objectives. Chapter 6 concludes and provides policy observations.