Journal

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 professionals as a result of the crisis. Are Customs brokers facing the same challenges?

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 plan.

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 analysts agree that the crisis will have a long-term impact.

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 … health threats, make for a challenging and evolving operating environment that requires close observation, and coordinated and far-reaching responses.

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.

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 plant trade sector during this global health emergency.