Counterfeit and pirated goods being sold over the internet, which are mainly delivered via the post, do not appear to have been affected by the economic downturn according to the 2009 Report … on EU Customs Actions to Enforce Intellectual Property Rights published by the European Commission. Increasing sales of these goods to European consumers are frustrating attempts to stem this illegal trade the Report further suggests.

Sports events are big business and the spin-off sales from merchandise are worth millions. For this reason companies who own international brands pay huge sums of money to supply products and … associate their brands with significant sporting events.

Whereas some fake goods are of poor quality and bear only a passing resemblance to the genuine article, others are similar in almost every respect. Fake drugs for example are designed to look … like real pills, and the best can fool a room of experts. This is what makes the task of distinguishing between fake and genuine products even harder.

Being the WCO’s Year of the CustomsBusiness Partnership, the Council acknowledged the contribution of the private sector to the work of Customs by witnessing the signing of renewed Memoranda … of Understanding (MOU) between the WCO and the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, the Global Express Association, the International Federation of Customs Brokers Associations, and The International Air Cargo Association respectively.

WCO Members continue to accede to the Organization’s key instruments; a clear demonstration of the crucial role they place in assisting Customs administrations to meet the challenges and opportunities … of today’s global trading environment.

June 2010 marked the fifth anniversary of the endorsement by the WCO Council of the SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate global trade.

A small scale trader waits in the shade of a tree at the Mwanza Border Post between Malawi and Mozambique. Somewhere inside, a clearing agent is completing complicated paperwork on his behalf … for a sum of money. The agent will deal with Customs officials, go over forms, calculate import duties and taxes and so on or sometimes even disappear with the trader’s money!

Abu Dhabi is the largest of seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of states situated in the south east of the Arabian Peninsula. As the capital of the UAE, … the City of Abu Dhabi is a cosmopolitan metropolis and the centre of the country’s political and industrial activities as well as a major cultural and commercial focal point.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known by its acronym CITES or ‘the Washington Convention’, is an international agreement between governments … aimed at ensuring that the international trade in species of wild animals and plants does not put their survival at risk.

During the autumn, the World Trade Organization and Cambridge University Press will publish A Handbook on the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement.