Leidinys

An important new instrument was finalized at the May 2017 session of the WCO Technical Committee on Customs Valuation (TCCV). The instrument, Advisory Opinion 4.17, deals with a scenario where … royalties have been paid by a franchisee to a franchisor for the use of the brands and system connected to the operation of stores under a franchise agreement.

At the December 2016 WCO Policy Commission session in Moscow, Russia, Members asked the WCO Secretariat to identify the priorities it would focus on. Six areas of work were identified, based … on the outcomes of WCO regional meetings: trade facilitation; e-commerce; security; Customs-tax cooperation; illicit financial flows; and performance measurement. The Council, at its July 2017 sessions, agreed with this work programme. In this article, I take up each of these topics in turn.

All strategic goals with regard to Tariff and Trade Affairs (TTA) have been successfully accomplished over the past year. This was evidenced by the significant workload of the WCO Secretariat’s … TTA Directorate in 2016, with 45 days of meetings held, more than 4,000 pages of documents prepared, more than 300 items examined, and more than 400 decisions taken. Sixty-nine TTA missions were also conducted during 2016/2017 for a total of 359 days, which is a few days short of a year.

Under the Strategic Trade Controls Enforcement (STCE) Programme, a curriculum and modules for training purposes have been developed to assist in the evaluation of standard operating procedures … (SOPs) and work practices dealing with strategic goods, which are defined as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and conventional weapons and related items involved in the development, production or use of such weapons and their delivery systems.

Illicit trade endangers the healthy structure of trade and industry, and requires constant vigilance from Customs administrations, which, due to their position at the border, play a critical … role in combating this trade that causes enormous detriment to state revenues and that of industries around the world.

E-commerce – the trade in goods and services via the Internet – has become a growing component of the global economy, and cross-border e-commerce a major topic of discussion for Customs authorities. … Accordingly, the WCO has placed this subject high on its agenda, including: creating a dedicated Working Group on E-commerce (WGEC) as a forum for WCO Members and the private sector to discuss strategies for the facilitation and control of cross-border e-commerce transactions; undertaking fieldwork and research to collect and analyse the experiences of WCO Members in this domain.

Saudi Customs is the latest Customs administration to implement an authorized economic operator (AEO) programme. In doing so, its objective is to modernize border processing and support the trade … facilitation objectives outlined in “Vision 2030,” a national blueprint for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to achieve its long-term goals and expectations that was announced in April 2016.

The WCO organized the first edition of its Global Transit Conference from 10 to 11 July 2017 with the double objective of stimulating discussions on how to improve transit regimes and to promote … the Organization’s newly published ‘Transit Guidelines.’

A decade ago, transit of goods in Central America suffered from lack of coordination of border agencies, cumbersome and slow Customs and administrative procedures, and limited use of information … technologies. More precisely, exporters with shipments in transit had to clear Customs at each side of countries’ bilateral borders and sequentially submit multiple paper documents to the various intervening agencies, including printed copies of international transit declarations, country-specific sanitary and phytosanitary certificates, and migration arrival and departure cards.

When it comes to Customs, Europe is at a turning point. In a globalized and fast-paced world, where trade is becoming increasingly liberalized, the role of Customs is changing. Governments around … the world are increasingly emphasizing the removal of barriers and the creation of a seamless flow of goods, services and people. This is a key factor of economic growth, and leads to enhanced trade and more global investment.