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The WCO Secretariat has reviewed its Compliance and Enforcement structures and assumed a new programme management based approach to its activities. One of the newly established programmes draws … together WCO security and counter-terrorism related projects and activities. The Strategy and the 2012/2013 Action Plan for the Security and Counter-Terrorism Programme were approved.

The 2012 WCO IPR Trophy was awarded to the Panama Customs administration for its outstanding commitment to combating counterfeiting and piracy by implementing an effective policy aimed at increasing … border protection and preventing infringements of intellectual property rights (IPR), thereby enabling improved results to be achieved.

Since the Asian financial crisis swept the Korean economy in 1999, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) has been analysing data related to foreign exchange transactions to examine the flow of money … for trade payments, because traders’ invoices and Customs declarations – which can easily be manipulated through collusion between traders – are not enough to show the veracity of commodity trade transactions.

Ninety-five percent (or six billion US dollars) of commercial goods in the Mesoamerican region are transported overland using the Pacific Corridor every year. The Corridor, which crosses six … national borders from southern Mexico to Panama, is the backbone of commercial trade in Mesoamerica. Despite numerous efforts to improve its infrastructure, bottlenecks at border crossings have created huge delays that have dramatically reduced the flow of goods. In 2008, the average speed of a truck moving from Mexico to Panama was 15 km per hour. As of August 2012, the average speed is 60 km per hour following the implementation of an innovative project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Customs officers around the world are used to implementing a broad range of controls, and increasingly, security-related controls. Of these, controls of dual-use commodities may be some of the … most difficult to understand and apply. After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, a number of international initiatives were taken to improve the security of international movements of goods and persons. Amongst them, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (UNSCR 1540) makes it obligatory for UN member States to put in place an export and transit control system to prevent the dissemination of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) - related technology to unauthorized nonstate organizations or people.

Egypt has been a Member of the WCO since 1956. The ECA is keen to interact with the WCO and other international organizations with a view to ensuring that experiences and best practices are transferred … to Customs. In line with the WCO’s promotion of partnerships with all economic operators and international organizations, the ECA has played an active part in many events that encourage cooperation, such as the WCO International Customs Day and the United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) signed a Mutual Recognition Decision on 4 May 2012 recognizing the compatibility between their respective trade partnership programmes.

Developed as a response to WCO Members’ concerns regarding falling revenue returns in the light of the 2008 global financial crisis and declining duty rates, the WCO Revenue Package brings together … all material relevant to revenue collection, including formal instruments and conventions, guidance notes, and training material.

After four years of negotiations, the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) have agreed on the text of a Protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.

Sixty years ago, several Customs administrations sought to create a new era of cooperation and information-sharing by founding the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) in Brussels, Belgium. Th … eir foresight led to what we have today: a dynamic organization that is on the cutting-edge of developing Customs instruments, standards, tools and technology, and is an integral participant in international trade.

Established in 1952 as the Customs Cooperation Council, the main mission of the WCO is to secure the harmonization and standardization of Customs procedures and the development of Customs technique … in order to facilitate and secure international trade. For the past 60 years, the WCO has been a setting in which governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and standards, and coordinate Customs policies.

Many remember the first landing on the Moon, when Apollo 11 touched down on its surface on 20 July 1969 and Neil Armstrong, one of its astronauts and the first man to walk on the Moon, uttered … his now famous phrase: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. People were either glued to the television or hunched around the radio as the world witnessed this historic event. But little did the astronauts know that when they returned to earth, a duty-conscious Customs offi cer would stop them and ask the most famous words associated with Customs services across the globe: “Do you have anything to declare?” Not even astronauts can escape the long arm of Customs!

Since 2008, the Algerian Directorate General of Customs has been applying a new management policy based on performance measurement. In this article, it reports on its trialling of performance … contracts, taking a candid look at progress to date and the problems encountered, and sharing its fi ndings and ideas for improvement.

The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department reports that RFID-based container locks can eff ectively improve the security, convenience and visibility of the Customs process for cargo entering … the airport. In November 2011, the Department began testing three types of electronic locks (e-locks) in order to speed up the process of performing Customs checks on containers fi lled with cargo.

Driven by the need to ensure that WCO Members were well-positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities of the global trading environment, the WCO Council adopted its Customs in the 21st … Century strategic vision in 2008. It comprises ten building blocks, of which Globally Networked Customs (GNC) is the first.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) works to ensure Canada’s security and prosperity by managing the access of people and goods to and from Canada.

The new version of the WCO Harmonized System (HS) Nomenclature entered into force on 1 January 2012. It includes 220 sets of amendments: 98 relating to the agricultural sector; 27 to the chemical … sector; 9 to the paper sector; 14 to the textile sector; 5 to the base metal sector; 30 to the machinery sector; and an additional 37 that apply to a variety of other sectors.

In 2011, close to two billion people worldwide were involved in an accident or suffered poisoning following the use of an adulterated, and usually counterfeit, product, with many dying from poisoning … or medical complications, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

As the World Customs Organization celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, it is only fitting that we use this opportunity to acknowledge the heritage that the founders of the Customs Co-operation … Council bestowed on us, namely the importance of cooperation, particularly the value of inter-connectedness among Customs and its partners.

The overall effectiveness of international Customs trade is directly proportional to the degree of connectivity within the global Customs community. As the technology that underpins this connectivity … evolves, so must Customs.