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June 30, 2010

World Customs Organization discusses Customs-Trade partnership

The World Customs Organization's (WCO) Council held its annual session in Brussels from June 24 to 26, giving rise to three days of intensive discussions by Directors General of Customs representing the 176 Members of the WCO.

Customs chiefs discussed a number of policy and technical issues dealing with Customs in the 21st Century including globally networked Customs, trade facilitation, security, revenue-related matters, intellectual property rights, and capacity building. They also spent considerable time discussing risk management; a strategic policy that is increasingly being applied by Customs administrations to more efficiently manage global trade both from a security and a facilitation perspective.

Being the WCO's Year of the Customs-Business Partnership, the Organization took time to acknowledge the contribution of the private sector to the work of Customs by signing renewed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, the Global Express Association, the International Federation of Customs Brokers Associations and The International Air Cargo Association.

As the Customs-Trade partnership is a priority activity, the WCO and its Members are committed to continuing their efforts to reinforce the partnership between Customs and business both nationally and internationally.

Council delegates also witnessed the signing of Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRA) – which form an integral part of the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate global trade – between Canada and Japan, Canada and Korea, Korea and Singapore, Canada and Singapore, and Korea and the United States respectively.