The Conference is being organized by the WCO at its Headquarters, bringing together Members of the WCO and other relevant stakeholders to share their experiences and to discuss how they can cooperate and work in tandem to counter illicit financial flows (IFFs) and trade mis-invoicing.

The morning session will focus on the assessment of both phenomena and on methods of detection, with a particular focus on unit price analysis and mirror data analysis, while the afternoon session will be devoted to presentations by Customs administrations on their practical experiences in dealing with IFFs and trade mis-invoicing.

Potential areas for inter-agency collaboration among intergovernmental organizations, such as the WCO, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G20, will also be explored.

Financial support for the Conference is being provided by the Korea Customs Service.

More information
www.wcoomd.org/en/events.aspx

██  ██  ██

2018 WCO IT Conference & Exhibition
“Building a reliable digital landscape to boost cross-border trade”
6-8 June 2018, Lima, Peru

The WCO theme for 2018 calls on the Organization’s membership to explore how Customs can contribute to better securing the business environment and, in so doing, boost economic prosperity. This premier WCO IT event aims to explore how information technologies can support such a process by enhancing the capacity of Customs administrations to identify high-risk goods, and how border management may appear in the future.

There are various technologies – some emerging and some already well-established – that authorities can benefit from in performing their tasks. However, there are uncertainties regarding their capabilities and limitations in the border management environment, and anxieties around potential data security and protection issues. Cyber-attacks today are more frequent and more extensive, with hackers becoming increasingly skillful at intruding into IT systems.

Participants will look at lessons learnt from the latest pilot projects and initiatives deploying advanced technologies, including data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. They will also focus on the following questions: How can blockchain technology increase trust between the private sector and governments? What kinds of clouds do we know about and how much security do they provide? What is the Internet of Everything and how can it support both the private sector and governments? How can international standards such as the WCO Data Model help?

More information
www.wcoomd.org/en/events.aspx

██  ██  ██

International Conference
“Respect for IP – Growing from the Tip of Africa”
23-25 October 2018, Sandton, South Africa

This Conference is being jointly organized by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC), INTERPOL, the WCO, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to foster a dialogue on building respect for intellectual property (IP).

It aims to strengthen international cooperation and build greater IP awareness while coming up with strategies for better IP enforcement in the region. Among the many topics to be discussed at the Conference will be the question of how to destroy IP-infringing seized goods and WIPO will present a report on the environmentally safe destruction of counterfeit goods.

More information
www.wipo.int