Articles under section " Dossier "

Directors General of Customs gathered at WCO Headquarters from 14 to 16 July 2016 to endorse the work done by the Organization covering the period July 2015 to June 2016, and to chart the way forward in the months ahead. This dossier touches on the WCO’s main areas of work – compliance, faci...

In the dossier section of this edition of the magazine, we have chosen to focus on the use of ‘collective action’ to fight corruption, an expression which arose out of a concern to find an innovative approach to address integrity-related issues. ...

During the 126th/127th Sessions of the WCO Council, which took place in July of this year, Heads of Customs administrations representing the 180 Members of the WCO engaged on many critical topics, such as e-commerce, security, Customs-Police cooperation, Customs-Tax cooperation, protection of cultur...

Data is generated by every economic activity, including by the movement of goods and people. In fact, the convergence of several technologies is accelerating the generation of data. According to experts, the volume of data continues to double every three years as information pours in from digital pl...

By the very nature of their activities, Customs administrations are vulnerable to various sorts of corruption – from the payment of a bribe to large-scale fraud. Since the adoption of the Arusha Declaration in 1993, which was later revised in 2003, the WCO has developed several tools to help its M...

Cross-cutting activities: Revenue Package and Advance Rulings The WCO continued to assist its Members in the implementation of the Revenue Package which provides guidance and good practices for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue collection. WCO experts conducted a national and a...

The world is turning digital, faster than we could have imagined, and public administrations are also moving online just as fast. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is everywhere in today’s Customs workplace. From the use of ICT in office automation, to the use of the Internet to publ...

Much has been said about illicit trade and over the years many articles touching on this subject have been published in this magazine covering, amongst others, drugs, tobacco, ivory, counterfeiting, cash and dual-use goods. In this edition we put the spotlight on some lesser known illicit trade issu...

Each year, the WCO Secretariat chooses a theme that is relevant to the international Customs community. The slogan chosen for 2018 is “A secure business environment for economic development.” Under this banner, Members of the WCO are encouraged to look at how they can create an environment for ...

Effective border management requires the identification of people and goods, and the collection and analysis of relevant information at the earliest possible point in the travel and trade continuum. The “business” of modern border management organizations has evolved, and is now driven by the ac...

Directors General of Customs gathered at WCO Headquarters from 6 to 8 July 2017 to endorse the work done by the Organization covering the period July 2016 to June 2017, and to chart the way forward in the months ahead. This dossier touches on the WCO’s main areas of work – compliance, facili...

This article outlines the case for Customs administrations to use ‘Collective Action’ to fight corruption and, by doing so, improve Customs policy and its implementation, increase duty and tax collection rates and support government anti-corruption efforts, while creating a fair business enviro...

Capacity building delivery More than 100 national or regional events have been organized to support WCO Members in implementing the Organization’s existing instruments and tools covering various important Customs-related areas, such as risk management, authorized economic operator (AEO) programm...

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department is working on a new information system, known as uCustoms, which will enable effective information-sharing, streamlined procedures, and genuine collaboration among all agencies involved in the clearance process. The Royal Malaysian Customs Department is worki...

The ambitious goal envisaged by the creators of the WCO COPES Project was to initiate a dialogue reflecting on the working methods used to combat fraud, from the identification of an offence to the storage of seized assets, including reporting, collecting and preserving evidence. In addition to the ...

  In this article, I would like to share my thoughts on Customs’ use of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, which is a vital tool in deterring the threat of terrorism and organized crime, while facilitating international travel.   Terrorism: an ongo...

  Directors General of Customs gathered at WCO Headquarters from 28 to 30 June 2018 to endorse the work done by the Organization covering the period July 2017 to June 2018, and to chart the way forward in the months ahead. This dossier touches on the WCO’s main areas of work – complianc...

Each year, the WCO Secretariat chooses a theme that is relevant to the international Customs community and its partners. The slogan chosen for 2019 is “SMART borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport.” An apt theme as the world increasingly moves towards working smarter, using smart techn...

Under this year’s banner, WCO Members are encouraged to look at how they can strengthen their endeavour to facilitate trade and travel, whilst mitigating threats inherent in the cross-border flows of goods, people, and means of transport. Our “SMART” acronym stems from the following guiding pr...

Directors General of Customs gathered at WCO Headquarters from 27 to 29 June 2019, as part of the annual Council Sessions, to consider and endorse the enormous amount of work done by the Organization from July 2018 to June 2019, and to provide strategic direction as well as chart the way forward in ...

In October 2016, a pan-governmental initiative called the AEO Joint Incentive (AJI) Programme was launched in China. Under the new scheme, companies which have met pre-determined standards under the existing AEO programme and have been certified by China Customs as “Advanced Certified Enterprises�...

The New Zealand Customs Service is getting closer to completing a major modernization project, called the Joint Border Management System. The system has two key components: the development and implementation of the New Zealand Trade Single Window; and advanced risk and intelligence capability, in...

At the December 2016 WCO Policy Commission session in Moscow, Russia, Members asked the WCO Secretariat to identify the priorities it would focus on. Six areas of work were identified, based on the outcomes of WCO regional meetings: trade facilitation; e-commerce; security; Customs-tax cooperation; ...

In 2008, a huge corruption scandal involving officials from the public sector and representatives from the private sector shook Uruguay’s foreign trade community, as well as its international trading partners: 11 Customs officials working at Carrasco International Airport and 25 Customs brokers we...

Four areas of activity The WCO continues to provide capacity building (CB) assistance to WCO Members around the world. Highlighted below is a sample of the initiatives taken for each of the specific areas of activity outlined in the WCO Organizational Development Package: Strategic Advisory Suppor...

As far back as 1971, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (HMC&E) – as it was then – was looking at how computers could be beneficial to the Customs process. The growth in air traffic and the need to clear goods quickly in the United Kingdom (UK) prompted the development of the London Airport ...

The WCO digital toolbox contains an extensive variety of instruments and tools to help Customs incorporate information and communications technology (ICT) into their daily work, one of which is the National Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) application. It has been almost three years since the firs...

Physical inspection of a traveller and a travel document is nowadays only part of the border controls on passengers arriving by air, or any other means of transport. In an increasing number of countries, the rest of the border control process relies on secure electronic data sent before the arrival ...

At the 2017 Council Sessions, Members endorsed six priorities that the WCO Secretariat would focus on: trade facilitation, e-commerce, security, Customs-tax cooperation, illicit financial flows, and performance measurement. At the June 2018 session, they reviewed the progress related to this work pr...

E-commerce Among the important tools adopted by the WCO Council in June 2018 is the Framework of Standards on Cross-Border E-Commerce, which will assist WCO Members in developing strategic and operational frameworks for e-commerce. The Framework will be equally useful for Members seeking to enhanc...

The Republic of Serbia is geographically located on the trade routes connecting Western and Central Europe to the Southeast region of Europe, especially the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as Turkey, and further away, the countries of Western Asia. To facilitate trade operations and especi...

The computer system that allows for real-time messages to be exchanged between countries, the tracking of goods and the management of guarantees, from end-to-end, is a stand-alone application that has to be implemented by all Parties and is called the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS). The NCTS...

At the 2019 WCO Council Sessions, Members endorsed a new Strategic Plan for the 2019-2022 period, comprising nine priorities that the WCO Secretariat should focus on: Coordinated Border Management, Safety and Security, the Revised Kyoto Convention, E-Commerce, the Harmonized System, the Capacity Bui...

Moreover, to enable data harmonization and digital collaboration at the national and international level, which supports the development of Single Window environments, the WCO continues to expand its Data Model so that it covers more and more border regulatory requirements. The continuing uptake of ...

When it was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) that COVID-19 had become a pandemic, the WCO Secretariat’s management team quickly sprang into action, listing the urgent tasks to be done to support Customs administrations in managing the crisis and developing a business continuity pla...

While the world is gripped by the fight against COVID-19, criminals have turned this into an opportunity for fraudulent activity. There have been an alarming number of reports quoting seizures of counterfeit and substandard critical medical supplies, such as face masks and hand sanitizers in particu...

Countries have to establish a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) in terms of their commitment to implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that was concluded by the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In this article, India explains its NCTF implementation journey a...

  All strategic goals with regard to Tariff and Trade Affairs (TTA) have been successfully accomplished over the past year. This was evidenced by the significant workload of the WCO Secretariat’s TTA Directorate in 2016, with 45 days of meetings held, more than 4,000 pages of documents prepar...

Twenty-first century challenges place demands upon Customs administrations throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Customs services must, therefore, be effective and efficient if they are to meet their revenue and trade facilitation targets, the achievement of which requires subs...

As the HS celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, we decided to gather together a number of articles explaining how the HS is managed and used, and questioning how it can be improved and whether a structural revision is now necessary. ...

Companies operating in global supply chains face a number of systemic corruption issues, such as demands for ‘facilitation’ payments or extortion for bribes, when trading goods across borders. National anti-bribery legislation in many countries and extraterritorial regulations, such as the Unite...

Security Programme The Punta Cana Resolution, released in December 2015, emphasizes the key role that Customs administrations play in tackling illicit cross-border movements of goods that could ultimately support terrorism and terrorist financing. To support WCO Members in building or enhancing th...

The environment surrounding Customs administrations is changing rapidly. The conclusion by the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its Trade Facilitation Agreement in December 2013 demands that governments make further efforts to simplify trade procedures and ensure more transparency in trade regulati...

Directors General of Customs gathered at WCO Headquarters from 11 to 13 June 2015 to endorse the work done by the Organization covering the period July 2014 to June 2015, and to chart the way forward in the months ahead. This dossier touches on the WCO’s main areas of work – compliance, facilita...

The Swiss art market, being one of the largest in the world, inevitably attracts objects of dubious provenance. Some of these stolen or plundered objects not sold directly on the Swiss market are held in Switzerland pending their insertion in the legal distribution system, whether in Switzerland or ...

Indonesian Customs began working on the electronic exchange of passenger data between airlines and Customs in early 2008, as part of their implementation of an Advance Passenger Information (API) transmission system. At that time, passenger processing techniques consisted of screening API data trans...

Cross-cutting activities WCO Revenue Package and advance rulings The WCO continued to assist its Members in the implementation of the Revenue Package, which provides guidance and best practices for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue collection, as well as in the implementation...

Nomenclature and classification The WCO continued to carry out its work on the uniform application of the Harmonized System (HS), with the adoption of numerous classification decisions and intensified capacity building efforts devoted to the implementation of HS 2017, including the harmonization a...

Technical assistance Capacity building activities included the organization of workshops in Albania, the Bahamas and Zambia on rules of origin, and in Ethiopia on the development of an advance rulings unit. Moreover, a diagnostic mission on origin and valuation infrastructure was delivered in Camb...

The implementation of a real-time electronic cargo monitoring system to track goods transported in transit enables countries in East Africa to cut transit time, prevent cargo theft and boost revenue collection In the East African region, the management of transit operations across the five land-lo...

RECTS operates in real time, enabling any transit violations, such as going off route, seal tampering or breaking, to be detected. Every time such an incident occurs, an alert is sent to the central monitoring centres hosted in each country, and a rapid response team is sent to the scene. The teams ...

WCO Revenue Package and advance rulings The WCO continued to assist its Members in implementing the Revenue Package, which provides guidance and best practices for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue collection, as well as in implementing an advance ruling system for classificati...

Nomenclature and classification The WCO continued to carry out its work on the uniform application of the Harmonized System (HS), with the adoption of numerous classification decisions and intensified capacity building efforts devoted to the implementation of HS 2017, including the harmonization a...

Technical assistance Capacity building activities included the organization of eight training workshops: In Sri Lanka, WCO Secretariat staff partnered with the WTO to deliver presentations related to the operational aspects of origin. In Angola, Indonesia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republi...

Each year, the WCO Secretariat chooses a theme that is relevant to the international Customs community and its partners. The slogan chosen for 2020 is “Customs fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet.” An apt theme as 2019 was the year where issues such as sustainability a...

For example, fair revenue collection and the fight against commercial fraud and illicit financial flows support poverty reduction and health and social programmes by ensuring that national governments are not deprived of critical revenues necessary to fund public infrastructure and services. It also...

Since December 2019, when the first cases where identified, the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread with dramatic consequences for people, governments, and companies. Although we will only be able to make a preliminary assessment of its full consequences in the coming months, most anal...

Eventually, humanity will prevail and the pandemic will come to an end with normal operations resuming all over the world. However, the current crisis should lead society’s key actors, including those involved in the management of the international trade supply chain, to deeply reflect on how to b...

Adam Smith, author of “The Wealth of Nations”, wrote that Customs duties have been “in use for time immemorial”. To a large extent, this assertion is correct. The practice of taxing commerce is as old as commerce itself. And where a tax must be collected, there will be disputes over rates an...

Technical Committee A Technical Committee on Customs Valuation (TCCV) was established under the auspices of the WCO to ensure uniform interpretation and application of the Agreement at the technical level. Its role is to examine specific technical problems arising in the day-to-day administration ...

The WCO has long been promoting Customs as a highly professional body, with specific knowledge, competencies and skills, which is fully committed to meeting the needs of governments and trade operators in terms of productivity, efficiency and quality of services. A key characteristic of such an orga...

We cannot talk about HR practices without mentioning leadership. Corporate culture, after all, starts at the top. According to experts, positive efforts and outcomes are largely the result of internal motivation. This raises the question of how leaders can truly motivate their teams. Some HR special...

After six years of intensive efforts, on 16 August 2017, Peru and Chile opened their first joint integrated border control centres. This new system aims to facilitate the movement of people, baggage and motor vehicles, and is an example of the practical implementation of the coordinated border mana...

As a partner of business and a guardian of trade, Singapore Customs strives to strike a fine balance between making sure sufficient controls are in place to interdict illicit trade, and ensuring that legitimate trade continues to flow unhindered. This requires Singapore Customs to be adept at data a...

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WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) The World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA) entered into force on 22 February 2017. The latest measures carried out by the WCO in the area of trade facilitation and TFA implementation under the WCO Mercator Programme include: ad...

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, generally referred to as “Harmonized System” or simply the “HS”, is seldom mentioned in the pages of this magazine. It is, however, one of the WCO’s flagship instruments. One can even say that it is the backbone of the...

The year 2015 left an indelible imprint on Guatemala’s history. President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti were arrested over their alleged involvement in La Línea or “the line,” the name given to a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving the country’s top autho...

During the 2016 Council sessions, the WCO signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU): First, one with the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation on the creation of a Regional Centre of Best Practices for the training of specialists on progressive technologies used in Customs work; S...

Context for change Driven by the need to ensure it would be able to address the increased demands of the global trading landscape, with regard to both financial and social security, accession to international instruments – specifically those developed by the WCO, pressures from the trade to impr...

During the 125th/126th Sessions of the WCO Council, which took place in June of this year, Heads of Customs administrations representing the 180 Members of the WCO conferred on many issues, including but not limited to, trade facilitation technical assistance and capacity building under the WCO Mer...

The rapid development of the Internet in the past decade has drastically and positively changed every aspect of our lives. People, in almost all cities across the world, are today virtually connected with each 24/7. But thanks to its speed, expediency and anonymity, internet-based technology has als...

The French Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) programme generated considerable media coverage in the wake of the tragic events in France in early 2015. The plan to implement an automated passenger information processing system in France, however, dates back much fur...

  New pubLications   WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) The TFA entered into force on 22 February 2017. Since its launch in June 2014, the Mercator Programme has been the WCO’s strategic initiative aimed at assisting governments worldwide in implementing the TFA in a uniform manner ...

SAFE Framework of Standards The 2018 edition augments the objectives of the SAFE Framework with respect to strengthening cooperation between and among Customs administrations, for example through exchange of information, mutual recognition of controls, mutual recognition of AEOs, and mutual admini...

The Brazilian Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programme can be considered one of the most advanced and successful in the world. Indeed, from the outset, the Programme has featured some prominent characteristics. Among other things, an internationally renowned consulting firm was involved in its d...

Staged implementation The implementation of the Brazilian AEO Programme has been carried out in stages: AEO-Security certification was launched in 2014 and AEO-Compliance certification in 2015. In 2016, steps were taken to negotiate the first AEO mutual recognition agreements (MRAs), and in 2017, ...

New publications E-Commerce Package AEO Compendium 2019 Edition Study Report on Disruptive Technologies Joint WCO-UPU Guidelines on Exchange of Electronic Advance Data between Posts and Customs WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) The TFA entered into force on 22 February 2017. Since its laun...

Single Window (SW) WCO experts participated in different international forums, supported activities relating to the implementation of SW solutions, and promoted the use of WCO standards and tools, such as the SW Compendium, the WCO DM and the RKC ICT Guidelines. Their activities included: assisti...

The global Customs theme for 2020 reads “Customs Fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet,” and, although the three focus areas are inter-linked, each warrants separate consideration due to their wide-ranging scope. It is thought-provoking to note that global GDP is estimat...

Sustainable Development Goals World leaders committed, for the first time, to the goal of sustainable development at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In 2000, 189 States signed a declaration to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals, achievement of which expired in 2015. As a result...

Environmental sustainability Environmental sustainability lies at the heart of most of the SDGs, and cannot be detached from the SDGs and future prosperity. The UN acknowledges environmental sustainability as key to achieving its 2030 SDGs, and supports the integration of sustainable development p...

Working towards environmental sustainability Various environmental and social treaties and goals have been adopted internationally, but more progress has been made in relation to social goals than environmental ones.[10] The future will be shaped by many factors, such as prevailing attitudes, but ...

Conclusion It is imperative for Customs administrations to acknowledge and respond to environmental risks and crimes, and to ensure that such crimes receive the strategic and policy recognition and operational attention they deserve. With 2020 having ‘sustainability’ at its core, Customs is en...

After 14 years of service, Kateshumbwa Dicksons left the Uganda Revenue Authority a few weeks ago. In this article, he shares the experience of Uganda Customs in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the year 2000, Uganda has experienced repeated outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF): fi...

In light of this unprecedented reality, governments took to adopting various policies and measures to curb the spread of this highly infectious disease, with a number of them implementing a lockdown of their population. After most neighbouring countries had confirmed COVID-19 cases, the government o...

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement (CVA). The Agreement seeks to tackle Customs clearance delays resulting from valuation verification and to ensure that the Customs value of goods entering a market are properly assessed to reflect the...

Objective The objective of the CVA is to provide a fair, uniform and neutral system for the Customs valuation of goods that eliminates the use of arbitrary or fictitious Customs values. At the same time, it aims to address under-invoicing. The CVA identifies the primary basis, in fact the default ...

Infrastructure changes Implementation of the Agreement requires a shift from focusing on intervention at the clearance stage and requires modernization of both processes and systems. The modernizing measures required for the implementation of the CVA are those that are included in the WCO Revised Ky...

Each year, the WCO Secretariat chooses a theme that is relevant to the international Customs community and its partners. The slogan chosen for 2021 is “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”. It invites Customs administrations to contribute to finding...

Recovery, Renewal and Resilience Safeguarding smooth flows of legitimate trade by facilitating efficient clearance processes will help support economic recovery from the current crisis and ensure a fiscal basis with fair revenue collection. We know that this cannot be done in isolation but rather ...

Customs administrations, due to the nature of their missions and to the fact that they are operating in an environment marked by complex interactions, have to constantly engage in modernization efforts. In other words, they need to regularly update and upgrade their operating models and working meth...

Findings from WCO People Development Diagnostics The WCO has been promoting a vision of Customs as a coherent professional body with unique operating models, and which consists of individuals who share specific and graduated knowledge, skills and attitudes, and who are committed and competent to r...

Procomex is an alliance of Brazilian companies and private sector organizations which aims to support the Customs modernization process. In this article, Procomex explains why it decided to replicate the survey used by the World Bank to evaluate the performance of the country when it comes to ease ...

The European context European Union (EU) Directive 2016/681 on the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data was adopted on 27 April 2016. It requires EU Member States to collect and use both PNR data and Advanced Passenger Information (API) “for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosec...

API-PNR France project Without waiting for the Directive to be adopted, France established a set of national legal measures, authorizing the collection, storage and processing of API-PNR data on air passengers and crew. The system was established by the law of 18 December 2013, which created Artic...

Strategic advisory support and delivery Strategic advisory support and delivery entail needs-assessments through diagnostic missions, the development of comprehensive strategic plans, the implementation of WCO standards, and the regular monitoring of performance indicators. During the 2016/2017 pe...

While the Harmonized System, or HS, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, it is, in fact, much older because it was developed over several years starting in the 1970s. Having worked on HS matters for at least 40 years, both within Danish Customs and at the WCO Secretariat, I have been in the fo...

According to a survey conducted in a Latin American country on behalf of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the perception of corruption leads to actual corruption. The survey showed a ‘statistically significant’ increase in respondents’ willingness to bribe a police officer after they...

The TIR system is going paperless. The new eTIR system is based on real-time digital data exchange between transport operators, Customs authorities, TIR system guaranteeing organizations, and the United Nations. A pilot project is currently being implemented between Iran and Turkey, with the eTIR s...

New publications New tools have recently been developed as part of the WCO Revenue Package, which collates all material relevant to improving fair and efficient revenue collection and compliance levels. Most of these tools are, however, only available to WCO Members. Cross-cutting activities Re...

The global trade in illegal pesticides is growing, evidenced by the increase in the number of seizures and incidents around the world related to such products. The increase is not only due to better awareness by controlling authorities of the phenomenon, but also to the fact that nowadays the illici...

A record high of 13.4 million foreign passengers visited Japan during the last year, according to statistics compiled by the Japan Tourism Agency. This number has doubled in the last three years; a trend which is expected to continue and may reach more than 20 million in 2020 when the Olympic and Pa...

new publications Security Programme Main streams of work Under the Strategic Trade Controls Enforcement (STCE) Programme, a curriculum and modules for training purposes have been developed to assist in the evaluation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work practices dealing with strate...

Drugs and Precursors Programme Project AIRCOP Twenty-two Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces (JAITFs) are currently operational under Project AIRCOP, a project managed in conjunction with the UNODC and INTERPOL, which aims at strengthening the capacities of international airports to detect an...

The Customs Administration of Burkina Faso recently implemented two key measures to facilitate trade: the establishment of an Advance Ruling Mechanism on tariff classification, and the performance of Time Release Studies. Both of these measures are prescribed in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO...

In implementing these two measures, Burkina Faso Customs benefited from WCO assistance in the areas of project management and stakeholder engagement. The WCO provided this support as part of its West African Customs Administrations Modernization (WACAM) Project, which is funded by the Swedish Govern...

As Secretary General of the WCO, I am reminded, every time I visit a Customs administration and its facilities, of the various technologies used by WCO Members to improve the way they manage the flow of goods, people and means of transport, enabling them to not only meet the challenges, but also tak...

The WCO has also developed critical standards-supporting IT tools such as the WCO Data Model for the harmonization of electronic data requirements, the Unified X-ray File Format (UFF) for the harmonization of data generated by non-intrusive inspection devices, and standards for the electronic exchan...

WCO Mercator Programme Since its launch in June 2014, the Mercator Programme has become the WCO’s flagship capacity building programme aimed at assisting Member administrations implement the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in a uniform manner. The Programme promotes harmonized implementat...

Human resource development (HRD) WCO e-learning platform: CLiKC! A new version of the CLiKC! learning platform dedicated to Customs officers has been launched. It provides users with a comprehensive picture of the WCO’s  training material as well as the training opportunities available to its...

In pursuance of the WCO’s objective to support global sustainability efforts, its Secretariat recently conducted a survey among Customs administrations to ascertain their level of engagement with regards to the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, or MEAs, as they are commonly ...

Findings Importance given to MEAs Customs administrations were asked to rate the importance they attached to the implementation of each of the eight MEAs in their countries. They could choose between the following five categories: critically important; more important (than other MEAs); important...

The first positive coronavirus case in Sri Lanka was reported on 3 March and by 8 May nearly 820 people were found to be infected out of a 22 million population. On 16 March a wide curfew was imposed on the island, followed by other stringent measures to protect the further spread of the virus. Thi...

Lower trade volumes The Port of Colombo, the island’s main entry point, benefits from a unique geographic location and Sri Lanka’s ambition to make it an important hub for international trade. According to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), in 2019, 5.9 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units ...

Introduction Following World War II, like-minded nations sought to create a global trading system that could help foster peace and prosperity through greater economic integration. This effort spawned the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which required its members to bind their tariffs ...

While recognizing that the return of tariffs is not a good omen, it is essential to acknowledge that the debate about tariffs is on the table. Unfortunately, right now, most media coverage lacks depth. The prevalent narrative is characterized by villains and heroes and a poor screenplay. It should b...

With its focus fixed on the capacity consistently to improve the service it provides to its users, Moroccan Customs has long been counting recourse to the new information and communications technologies among its strategic options. Today, the various projects undertaken to dematerialize its procedur...

Complete dematerialization of the Customs clearance circuit The launch of “paperless” Customs clearance was preceded by the gradual rollout of legal, procedural and technical prerequisites, which called for a commitment from all the Customs services. Some of the key objectives of the digital t...

Dematerialization of certificates of origin In Morocco, certificates of origin are issued by the Customs Administration. Exporters simply apply for a certificate when drawing up the export declaration. The computer system then collects the data already entered on the declaration and requests that ...

How can you make an impact as a leader on the performance of your organization, especially in a time of crisis? Part of the answer lies in ensuring that your human resource (HR) managers are taken seriously and have the tools at their disposal to make the best decisions for your biggest resource, y...

Why are some people more successful than others At Innermetrix UK Ltd, we conducted a seven-year study on what really drives individual performance and success. We looked at 75 PhDs and 900 consultants who are specialists in helping people develop and thrive – in total, 197,000 individuals acros...

With its recent ratification in February 2017, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement is now in force. This is fantastic news for making trade simpler, and for taking advantage of the subsequent economic rewards. However, the question of how to hold countries, administra...

As the WCO is dedicating 2017 to encouraging the use of data analysis for more effective border management, I would like to share my own personal experience in this field, and explain how I was able to develop my data analysis skills thanks to the WCO’s support. Data analysis is not merely one of ...

Security Programme Under the Strategic Trade Controls Enforcement (STCE) Programme, a curriculum and modules for training purposes have been developed to assist in the evaluation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work practices dealing with strategic goods, which are defined as weapons of ...

As the WCO celebrates the 30th anniversary, in 2018, of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, more popularly known as the Harmonized System or the HS, the question may be asked whether the time has come to contemplate a major overhaul of the system. This article looks at the struc...

The changing uses of the HS The HS causes individual goods to be put into classes so that administrations can decide what to do about these goods as a group: charge a particular rate of duty, require an import permit, check for insect contamination, or whatever else is appropriate. It also provide...

With the entry into force of the ‘Union Customs Code’ in the European Union, and the still all too real terrorist threat, obtaining the status of an Authorized Economic Operator is even more vital than ever for companies in the world of logistics. However, guaranteeing and optimizing the proces...

Capacity building delivery Thirty national or regional events have been organized to support WCO Members in implementing the Organization’s existing instruments and tools covering various important Customs-related areas, such as risk management, the Single Window (SW) and transit, as well as the...

Identifying the trade in fisheries products that have been illegally caught is challenging. This article provides an overview of the solutions being developed by governments, inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and civil society to address ill...

  Strategic advisory support and delivery Strategic advisory support and delivery entail needs-assessments through scoping and gap analysis missions, the development of comprehensive strategic plans, the implementation of WCO standards, and the regular monitoring of performance indicators. Duri...

WCO Mercator Programme activities Since its launch in June 2014, the WCO has been promoting the Mercator Programme as a strategic initiative aimed at assisting governments worldwide in implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a uniform manner by ...

  Small island states and the various issues that they face, from whatever perspective one looks at them, are a priority for the global community as a whole. This article explains the challenges and peculiarities of Customs administrations of small island economies by looking at the specificit...

Potential solutions Against such a background, SVEs should seek to integrate into the global economy by tackling issues like trade and food security standards, capacity constraints, and structural handicaps and vulnerabilities. Small economies need to reaffirm their commitment to trade liberalizat...

The Jamaica Customs Agency is cognizant of the benefits to be derived from the introduction and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in partnership with other partnering regulatory agencies (PRAs). Such an endeavour is considered strategic and necessary for improved service delivery...

As part of the reform, an electronic Single Administrative Document (eSAD) covering all declaration regimes was introduced, which resulted in an immediate reduction in the cost  of documentary compliance for clients, and in the standardization of all procedures across all Customs Offices. Supportin...

New Publications Strategic Trade Control Enforcement Implementation Guides 2019 Edition Computer Investigation Guidance Digital Device Examination Guide for Customs Officials Emerging Technologies Impacting Customs Security Programme Strategic trade Under the Strategic Trade Controls Enforce...

Small arms and light weapons (SALW) Regarding SALW, three train-the-trainer workshops were conducted for nine countries in South East Asia. Accredited trainers then conducted national training workshop in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand where officers from law enforcemen...

How the Harmonized System supports a safer, greener world by specifying goods of environmental concern or interest. “Here be dragons” Dragons and other mythological beasts were used to illustrate uncharted and potentially dangerous areas on some medieval maps. In regard to goods that pose en...

Goods posing environmental risks In every new edition of the HS, there are changes designed to make it simpler for administrations to monitor and control the trade in goods posing an environmental risk. For example, goods newly controlled under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consen...

As more countries imposed restrictions on movements and gatherings to fight the spread of COVID-19, online training that might have been a useful tool before, suddenly became a necessity. In this article, Japan Customs explains how it quickly adapted to the situation to keep offering new recruits t...

The Japan Customs Training Institute (CTI) provides various kinds of training programmes, which are designed according to officers’ skills and career paths. Among these various training programmes, the one developed for newly recruited officers is of particular importance. It is indeed imperative ...

A significant amount of work has been done over the last 15 years on “convergence” of income tax transfer pricing (TP) and Customs valuation. Both income tax and Customs rules seek the same result, ensuring that prices between related parties are “at arm’s length,” set as if the parties we...

Setting prices – imports by distributors Multinationals commonly establish a separate distribution entity in each country in which goods are sold. This distributor is the importer for goods sold in that market, and will be referred to as the Importer. Even when a multinational conducts multi...

[1] The TCCV is established by Article 18 of the Agreement and is charged with providing guidance on uniform interpretation and application of the Agreement. [2] Commentary 23.1, and Case Studies 14.1 and 14.2 are discussed later in this article. Each is available at available at: http://www.wcoomd....

The Jamaica Customs Agency considers its human capital to be its most valued resource and, as such, its staff has a place of pride within the Administration. In this article, the Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD) Division introduces some of the programmes it has developed to ensure s...

Psychological health The importance of psychological health and its impact on organizational success cannot be overstated. With this in mind, the Agency has established an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through which employees and their immediate family members can seek and receive confident...

Physical wellbeing Under its Physical Wellbeing Programme, the Agency offers its staff the opportunity to participate in physical activities, including the Agency’s own initiative, called #Customsmoves, -an aerobics and strength training programme. To have an effective programme, professional t...

Although the carriage of freight by rail can provide a cheaper and faster alternative to sea and air transport, it is still very low. In order to develop the transport of postal items by rail, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) has set up a task force and undertaken several pilots in order to better ...

Data analytics – for example, automated selectivity rules – has become an increasingly important tool for Customs agencies. However, conventional data analytics has some critical limitations. It can only look for pre-defined patterns and rules, and cannot make use of unstructured data, which com...

In January 2018, the Ghanaian government notified the WCO Secretariat that it had accepted seven Harmonized System (HS)-related WCO Council Recommendations, testimony to its strong commitment to implement objective, predictable and transparent classification practices as well as facilitate the coll...

At the time of the effective takeover in September 2015, a new facility that would subsequently be known as the Customs Technical Services Bureau was already in place at Customs Headquarters, and, within it, a National Classification Centre. There was also a pool of experienced officers to man this ...

The digital supply chain is where the world of trade is being transformed, as consumers and businesses switch to digital media, digital goods and e-commerce in place of physical goods traded at bricks-and-mortar stores. New platforms for trading goods online as well as on the ‘dark net,’ new dri...

Four areas of activity © WCO The WCO continues to provide capacity building (CB) assistance to WCO Members around the world. Highlighted below is a sample of the initiatives taken for each of the specific areas of activity outlined in the WCO Organizational Development Package: Strategic Advisory...

An assault rifle is shipped to a foreign government in the mid-1970s. Forty years later, with the original records of its sale long since disposed of or lost, it is stolen from a poorly guarded stockpile, and driven in the back of a truck across a thousand-mile-long border. It is passed on to a fore...

  Election highs of the sessions included the re-election of Enrique Canon, the Director General of Uruguay Customs, as Chairperson of the Council, and the re-election of Kunio Mikuriya, the incumbent Secretary General of the WCO, for a further five-year term at the helm of the Organization, ef...

The growth of e-commerce has contributed to significant increases in the volumes of goods crossing Australia’s borders. Between 2013 and 2016, the volume of inbound air cargo and international mail parcels increased by 57%. Between 2017 and 2021, Australia expects a 30% year-on-year growth in air ...

What other models were considered? Australia considered alternatives to this model, including: the traditional or border collection model, which is the current model for collecting GST, Customs duties and other indirect taxes on imports valued above 1,000 Australian dollars – the administrative...

It is 07:45 on a Wednesday morning in May at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the United States (US) and passengers are boarding Delta Air Lines flight 334 to Mexico City. One by one the passengers scan their boarding passes and approach a camera that is set up on the air bridge w...

As early as 2002, shortly after the worst terrorist attack in US history, legislation was passed requiring the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use biometric technology to issue visas and screen non-US citizens entering the country. Then in 2004, more legislation ...

Field testing Concurrently, CBP was doing its own laboratory tests and conducted a series of pilots. “We ran several pilots to help us learn about the different types of biometric technology in the different environments where we work,” said Wagner. For example, CBP was aware that US passports...

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer has nothing to declare” is the caption of this year’s winning entry from Finland Customs. ...

There is a long-standing concern that trade flows in hazardous and other wastes could lead to negative impacts on human health and the environment if such wastes end up in countries without capacities for their proper management. On the other hand, trade in waste is sometimes a necessity for countr...

Latest developments In May 2019, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, the Convention’s decision-making body, adopted numerous decisions. They include the adoption of the Plastic Wastes Amendments, which aim at placing greater controls on the transboundary movements of plastic w...

The environmentally sound management of wastes covered under the Convention also has its own specificities and implementation challenges. First of all, the definition and classification of waste, scrap and secondary materials can be different from country to country. The Convention specifies hazardo...

Available support Fourteen regional centres for training and technology transfers related to the management of hazardous wastes and other wastes and the minimization of their generation have been established to support the implementation of the Convention. They carry out training and capacity buil...

In every discussion I have about aviation, people ask me when they will be able to fly again. Still remains to be seen when the recovery from COVID-19 firmly starts, but from all assessments, it may take several years for the industry to come back to its pre-crisis level, especially when it comes to...

With the grounding of most passenger planes, the air cargo industry suddenly lost between 80-90% of its existing belly capacity, which severely disrupted air cargo flows. However, the sector was able to quickly adjust to this sudden change with innovative measures such as increased utilization of fr...

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the WCO have a history of long and close co-operation in the area of Customs valuation. As the institutional representative of more than 45 million businesses in over 100 countries, ICC has been participating as an Observer in the meetings of the Tech...

Transfer pricing For the past 15 years, there has been a concerted effort by the private sector, the OECD, the TCCV and the Customs authorities of many Member countries to address the link between transfer pricing for income tax purposes and related party Customs valuation. We are proud to have pa...

The ATA[1] Carnet is an international Customs document that permits duty-free and tax-free temporary admission of most goods for up to one year. It enables countries, businesses and border agencies to expedite the Customs process by utilizing unified, ready-to-use declaration forms and eliminating t...

Going digital The ATA Carnet is still today a paper-based document, although its digitization (turning the physical paper into an electronic file) and the digitalization of the Carnet-based temporary admission process has been discussed for some years now. The fact is that, given the complicated nat...

Qatar Customs is offering its staff new opportunities to further their education and ensure they are well equipped to take on complex projects or managerial positions. This article introduces these new educational programmes and reveals some of the lessons learned in establishing them.   Unti...

In order to offer its employees the opportunity to acquire such knowledge and skills, Qatar Customs established a partnership with the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) and the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES) at Charles Sturt University, Australia. CCES had already partnered with a numbe...

Australia and New Zealand have been working together to test a new border clearance process to help address the huge increase in e-commerce related international mail volumes between the two countries. Undertaken as a trial, this article explains its objectives, how it was conducted, the results, l...

Appropriate policies and sound legal and regulatory frameworks are necessary conditions to make international trade a virtuous engine to eradicate poverty and hunger, and to promote prosperity and sustainable development. On 25 September 2015, the 193 Member States of the United Nations (UN) adopted...

© WCO Security Programme Programme Global Shield (PGS) Activities under PGS, an initiative launched in 2010 to monitor the trade in 14 chemicals in order to identify those that could be diverted for the illegal manufacture of improvized explosive devices (IEDs), include training, intelligence s...

On International Customs Day 2016, the Secretary General of WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, reminded us all that information and communications technology (ICT) is everywhere in today’s Customs workplace, and that ICT has transformed the way Customs and governments operate. To meet the challenge of facilitat...

The WCO signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU): with Korea Customs on the establishment of a WCO Regional Customs Laboratory; with Tunisia Customs on the establishment of a WCO Regional Training Centre (RTC); with Hungary Customs on the setting up of a WCO Regional Dog Training Centre (RD...

Since the Fourth Industrial Revolution was mentioned in 2016 at the World Economic Forum, the impact of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the blockchain and “big data” have become issues discussed at length worldwide. In Korea, in preparing for the future, the government...

2018: Project design The KCS’s second step was to review areas where the use of blockchain solutions would make sense. The import/export clearance process was identified as a good start, given that it would benefit from a solution that would guarantee information reliability, real-time infor...

India figured amongst the top 10 countries that had improved its ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2019. The most remarkable progress was made in the category “Trading across borders,” where India’s rank jumped from 146 to 80, the highest jump made by a country. Amongst seve...

Exports On 1 July 2017, India introduced a single tax called the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is levied on the supply of goods or services consumed in India. There is not GST on exports, and if transactions leading to exports are charged, the government would refund the money in full. In or...

  Far right: Mr. Dicksons Collins Kateshumbwa, Commissioner of Uganda Customs, was elected Chairperson of the Council     Centre: Mr. Taeil Kang of Korea joined the Secretariat in October 2019 as Director of the Capacity Building Directorate     Right: Mr. Pranab Kumar Da...

The ozone layer, which lies in the atmosphere high above our heads, is vital for protecting human health and the environment from dangerous ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth’s surface. Without it, life on earth could not exist. Depletion of this thin layer of gas is caused by the emission o...

Montreal Protocol This environmental success story is testament to the achievements of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, under which nations of the world have phased-out 99% of ODS. One may conclude, therefore, that a global environmental catastrophe has been averted ...

Never more than now has the need for a secure and contactless border experience been more important. Border agencies face many challenges and are today operating in an era of unprecedented change. An increasingly volatile global travel and trade environment combined with new security and public he...

To change the way core border agency tasks and services are delivered in a faster, safer, and more user-friendly way, we believe the border agency of the future will be characterized by three core features. Invisible By using digital technologies that remove the need to present documentation or in...

Conclusion The border agency of the future will be invisible, adaptable and radically connected. Through these three characteristics, agencies will enable all their stakeholders to enter a new era of faster, safer, and more efficient travel and trade flows, while maximizing the value of their coun...

Advance rulings relating to the determination of tariff classification and origin of goods are already established in several countries, but few have implemented such a system in the field of Customs valuation. Such rulings do not determine or confirm the actual Customs value of a particular consig...

In addition to advance rulings, CBP also issues several other types of rulings. These include internal advice decisions on pending transactions, protest decisions on appeals of completed transactions and final determinations concerning the country of origin for purposes of government procurement.[1]...

Given increasing concerns about food security and food safety and the need to fight hunger and eliminate food waste, a review of the current processes for implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and adoption of information technology to enhance work...

Many importing countries require a Sanitary/Phytosanitary Certificate which is an official document issued by a competent authority of the exporting country to the exporter. It certifies that the animals or plants, and their derived products, covered by the Certificate have been inspected and are fr...

This article is based on the presentation by the authors at the WCO webinar “Managing HR through a crisis and beyond”. It looks at how to maintain effective performance in a severely disruptive crisis situation, and explores practical strategies for combining performance and staff wellbeing at ...

According to an article published by the management consulting firm Gallup [2]: “Leaders don’t need to predict the future. What followers need most are trust, compassion, stability and hope.” The COVID-19 pandemic is dramatically increasing the demand for leadership and management capacity. To...

Trade-based money laundering (TBML) is defined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the process of disguising the proceeds of crime, and moving the money into the formal economy through the use of trade transactions in an attempt to legitimize its illicit origins. In practice, this can be ac...

The WCO website tells us that tariff classification using the Harmonized System (HS) Nomenclature “allows a world of many languages to speak with one.” As we mark the 30th anniversary of the official adoption of the HS in 1988, few could argue against the value of this universal language that ha...

© WCO   Several elections took place during the Sessions with the following results: Zouhair Chorfi of Morocco was re-elected as Chairperson of the Council. Ana Hinojosa of the United States was elected as Director of Compliance and Facilitation. From top to bottom and left to right: Ana Hino...

“Facilitating trade, protecting our people, building our country” is the caption of this year’s winning entry from Jamaica Customs. The photo shows officers getting on with different jobs in an efficient and friendly way. It illustrates the core values of Customer Service, Accountability, Pro...

Technology is changing at what seems like an ever-increasing pace, raising discussion about autonomous cars and the future of employment, as well as the future of trade. Whilst cars are not quite driving themselves yet, global trade has seen a dramatic shift in the way that we shop. I am talking, of...

The Express Industry is an innovative industry by nature, bolting together extensive air and road networks, local pick-up and delivery services, and massive information technology (IT) services to create one integrated and secure supply chain, driven by the needs of our customers. A major balance fo...

In 2016, the Cameroon government opted to impose a systematic scanning policy for containers on both their import and export. This article assesses the impact of this mechanism in the Customs clearance procedure, focusing, in turn, on its efficiency, how it is generally perceived by private‑secto...

Repositioning the scanner upstream of the clearance procedure In 2006, mobile scanners had been positioned at the end of the Customs clearance procedure, and containers were subject to the scanning process only where: declarations were made in the red channel; declarations were made in the yellow...

In the last decade Uruguay experienced a true energy revolution. Back at the turn of the century oil accounted for 27% of Uruguay’s imports and a new pipeline was just about to begin supplying gas from Argentina. Today hydroelectric, biomass, solar and wind power plants provide 94.5% of the countr...

It also worked to resolve the logistical problems posed by the size and weight of some of the goods involved. In particular, it provided importers with specially rearranged premises to allow for the storage of such goods at the port and reviewed the working hours of customs officials. In addition an...

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in ways that we never imagined. One thing, however, has become very clear; the continued importance of global trade and of initiatives supporting the smooth flow of goods across borders, especially essential goods to areas where they are most needed. Globa...

Those countries that have minimized bureaucracy and cost at the border have been able to benefit ahead of those that haven’t; and now there has never been a more important time to implement even the most basic reforms to support countries both from a health and safety as well as an economic perspe...

In the EU, the “simplification for the determination of amounts being part of the Customs value of the goods” under the transaction value method allows operators to avoid the burden of a two-step declaration – i.e. a simplified declaration followed by a supplementary declaration – a...

  This possibility was first introduced in the EU Customs provisions in 1997[3]. However, the scope of the authorization was limited to additions and deductions related to the transaction value, and did not cover the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods. It was also limited in ...

When I was appointed to the top position in the Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) in October 2018, I was confronted with challenges aplenty, from administrative to operational concerns and systemic deficiencies that made the Bureau vulnerable to corrupt practices. For more than two years now, my ...

We have also put a great deal of work into the completion of the database and the pool of BOC trainers, speakers and experts, and into carrying out 180 activities as part of our learning and development programmes in 2020, in which a total of 5,570 employees participated. The COVID-19 pandemic has n...

A new Customs Operations Centre also opened in December 2020. Designed to house the different intelligence, enforcement, risk management and scanning systems of the Bureau, the Centre’s officers are to help enhance the operations of the 17 Collection Districts located across the country, and aid t...

Our names are Mary and Edwin, and we are Customs officers working in the city of Tumbes, located on the northern Peruvian coast, only 30 km from the Ecuadorian border. Despite the fact that we work in different sections of the Administration, we both have an interest in, and passion for, internation...

As industry continues to innovate, the work on amending the Harmonized System is never complete. This article looks at the origin and evolution of LED products to illustrate how the System can adapt to product developments over time, lighting the way for traders and guaranteeing the flow of legitim...

“Border ahead” is the caption of this year’s winning entry from Sudan Customs. The photo was taken at the the Askeit border post and shows goods trucks ready to cross the border with Egypt. Since April 2015, this border post is the first and only border crossing point in Sudan benefiting from ...

When electronic data interchange (EDI) was introduced half a century ago, it rang in an era of business automation. Two decades later, in the eighties, standards began to converge towards the UN/EDIFACT standard, which set the foundations for global data exchange between businesses. Today, 95% of do...

ONE Record explained So what would it take to share data via the web? Let’s say that we want to make a booking for freight with an airline. We could create a web page with all the details and send them the URL. Here are a couple of things that we would then discover: Firstly, the airline would...

In April 2019, the WCO SAFE Working Group endorsed a document providing a summary of the technical specification for the proposed unified X-ray file format for non-intrusive inspection (NII) devices, codenamed the Unified File Format (UFF). Endorsement of the summary document by the WCO’s Policy C...

  UFF Phase 2 deliverables The architecture of the UFF is outlined in a document entitled “Technical Specification of the Proposed Unified X-ray File Format for Non-Intrusive Inspection Devices – UFF 2.0.” This document lists the technical details required for the implementation of ...

The global demand for timber, and its products, is only partly being met from legal sources. According to a 2012 report from INTERPOL and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), illegal logging accounts for between 15 and 30% of the volume of all forestry products. This share is even higher in tropical...

Legal framework One of the key global agreements is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that came into force in 1975. CITES, which has 183 signature countries, aims to ensure that the international trade in wild plants and animals does not th...

Organizations such as the WCO, working with its partners like INTERPOL, are investing a great deal in fostering collaboration among Customs administrations and relevant enforcement bodies to curb the illicit trade in various commodities, including through enforcement operations. One of these, Operat...

Results and remaining challenges Data collected by the UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which acts as a consultant to the European Commission and compiles overviews of the checks performed by EU Member States as well as of timber source countries to support the implementation of the�...

Early 2020 saw the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to almost every country on the planet. Healthcare workers, road hauliers, logistics specialists, international freight forwarders, agrifood cooperatives… much has been said and written in the media about the problems faced by these groups of prof...

New working practices As in many other sectors, it has been necessary for Customs brokers to switch to remote working in order to continue operating throughout the crisis – a process made easier for AKANEA’s customers by the fact that the company’s SaaS tools can be accessed from any locatio...

* The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily represent those of their organisations In June 2019, the Montenegro Customs Administration (MCA) implemented a new Customs clearance procedure that uses pre-arrival data to fast-track Customs clearance of express car...

Below is a step-by-step description of the procedure: Prior to loading: Company receives shipment instructions (booking details) from its customers along with standard information about the goods. The customer also provides additional documents necessary for import clearance (e.g. commercial invoi...

The implemented PAP procedure is a significant departure from the pre-existing paper-based control system. At the time of concluding the assessment, 7% of all of the country’s imports were handled using this procedure. Data from DHL show that the rate at which parcels are cleared within 1 hour of...

In 2000, the President of Indonesia issued a decree requesting all government agencies to integrate the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men into the planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of policies and activities. This strategy, known as “gender mainstreaming”, aims...

Gender Equality and Diversity Taskforce In 2006, the Ministry of Finance decided to create a GED Taskforce to ensure effective implementation of gender mainstreaming. The Taskforce is made up of high-level representatives, including the Director General of Indonesia Customs, who are assigned the r...

In 2013, as Brazil was preparing to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the Brazilian Customs administration started exploring ways to improve air passenger control in order to be able to effectively process the athletes and millions of tourists who were expected to attend or partici...

New analytical tools Until 2014, Customs officers posted at the airport based their decision on whether to select and control a passenger and his/her baggage on the results of behavioural analysis, questioning, baggage surveillance, and on other random factors. The implementation of new analytical...

How does a specific product become the subject of a global classification decision at the WCO? What information is considered when amendments are made to the Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature? And how can a company or industry sector engage at the WCO to support classification decisions and HS am...

The WCO and Jordan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the creation of a Regional Training Centre in Amman. A Cooperation Agreement was also signed between the WCO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to strengthen cooperation between the two Organizations and to boost collaborati...

The management of land or maritime borders is different from that of points of entry such as ports or airports, where the main constraint is not the scale of the territory, but rather the scale of the flows. If time is the principle constraint in ports or airports, then space is the main challenge w...

Geodata in use today State agencies use geographic tools for many purposes: to analyse land use; to plan traffic infrastructure; to monitor the environment and agriculture; to respond to disaster management; and to manage humanitarian aid or to assess development policies. Additionally, some regio...

Increasing the efficiency of transportation is key to reducing the impact of trade operations on the environment. To achieve significant results, Customs, border agencies, traders and logistics operators must digitalize their processes and share relevant data. However, such efforts will not bear fr...

Working with industry leaders such as DHL, DPD, Cosco and Kuehne + Nagel, as well as with Customs administrations and other public authorities, MJC2 has developed new AI-driven algorithms and optimization solutions, which address areas such as real-time logistics planning, manufacturing scheduling, ...

With the current global spotlight on wild animal markets as a possible source of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is easy to forget that the biggest flows of “wildlife” in trade involve plants, not animals.  There are also important conservation and health reasons to keep a close eye on the wild plan...

It is assessed that direct overexploitation, including for international trade, combined with land-use changes and habitat loss, threatens the survival of as many as 20% of the plants used for medicinal and aromatic purposes. The extinction of these species threatens the livelihoods and well-being o...

Singapore is spearheading the implementation of TradeTrust, which is a framework comprised of a set of globally accepted standards to facilitate the digitalization of documents used in international trade and logistics and their interoperability, and also a set of software components that connect t...

For example, the Bill of Lading (BL)[1] is still provided in hardcopy in many countries, creating inefficiencies. It requires time and money to courier the BL document to destination ports of discharge, plus there are risks of the BL getting lost in transit, which may cause the trader to incur demur...

Ensuring the enforcement of a national strategic trade control (STC) system is a key requirement for all Customs administrations. Strategic goods comprise weapons of mass destruction (WMD), conventional weapons, and the materials, technology and equipment that may be used in their development or del...

In the United States, for example, the Department of Commerce uses identifiers called export control classification numbers (ECCNs) to categorize items that are subject to export control regulations. These ECCNs predominantly contain strategic goods. US Customs and Border Protection uses the Harmoni...

The Australian Border Force (ABF) Detector Dog Program (DDP) is a national program divided into two sub-sections: Operations – responsible for seven regional operational units in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Breeding and training – responsible for the...

The main limitations of the breeding program are related to resources and infrastructure. These include: Staffing and breeding stock numbers. Competencies of staff to deal with complex breeding activity. Having enough whelping and nursery areas to safely support activities. DDP breeding and develo...

Engaging with stakeholders and implementing open communication, effective collaboration and meaningful consultation is essential in building “a secure business environment for economic development.” In this article, the Secretary General of TIACA explains how similar the concerns of the air car...

Towards a digital transformation COVID-19 has put immense pressure on traders and supply-chain managers and has highlighted the need for more traceability and visibility in trade transactions, and for more interoperability in IT systems, including those of logistics providers.  Progress in these...

How it works As soon as a company AEO certification is approved, a Customs officer in country A uploads information on that company to CADENA. The application automatically sends a notification to inform Customs in country B, with which Customs in country A has signed an MRA.  Customs officers from...

The General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs (hereinafter referred to as “Abu Dhabi Customs”) has recently undergone a major organizational change in order to keep pace with technological developments and to meet the digital transformation objectives set by the Abu Dhabi Government. One of th...

Identification of competencies A competency consists of several components, including motives, attitudes, values, skills, talent, intelligence, abilities, knowledge, know-how, experience, social roles and self-image. Some experts refer to high performance competencies and divide them into four gro...

This text is inspired by experience gained in field studies undertaken in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2000 and anthropological research conducted over a period of 18 months in seven border areas that can be considered “fragile,” namely in Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Sudan (Darfur), northern Mali and t...

In Malaysia, the use of technology to support Customs operations has increased steadily over the last few years. As in many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed this trend and the use of online communication tools and technology such as non-intrusive inspection  equipment has become an im...

The FAT was supervised by the Deputy Director General of Customs, Mr. Mohd Yunus Charlie Charington. It took place over a week and was carefully prepared with the manufacturers to ensure a smooth process without compromising quality. All tests were carefully examined and adapted with each process de...