Panašus turinys

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have gained greater importance due to the impact that they are having on different economies around the world. According to the Small and Medium Enterprise … Development Authority (SMEDA), SMEs comprise approximately 90% of all firms in the world and account for an average of 40% to 50% of countries’ GDP. In the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) region for example, SMEs account for over 80% of all businesses and employ as much as 60% of the work force.

As part of the “Inventing Our Future” Forum on “The WCO in the 21st Century”, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), represented by Mr. Hassan Baage from the Counter-Terrorism … Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), was asked to speak on the topic “Security : A challenge for the WCO?”.

Money laundering has a considerable adverse impact on the social stability and economic development of a nation. It is not a stand-alone crime, but is intertwined with other crimes, which are … called “predicate offences”. These offences include transnational organized crimes such as the smuggling of drugs, arms, stolen vehicles and artworks, the trade in counterfeit goods, and so on. This criminal trade generates a significant amount of illegal proceeds that need to be laundered, hence the need to find more avenues in which to do so.

One of the key standards contained in the SAFE Framework is the establishment of a risk management system to identify potentially high risk shipments. The use of non-intrusive inspection equipment … is also strongly advocated, but in tandem with the application of these risk assessment techniques. At a time when the WCO is actively encouraging all its members to employ risk management, the potential implementation of 100% scanning requirements by one of the world’s major trading powers threatens to undermine the provisions of the SAFE Framework. Michael Schmitz, WCO Director of Compliance and Facilitation, responds to questions on this subject.

In General - A container that was loaded on a vessel in a foreign port shall not enter the United States (either directly or via a foreign port) unless the container was scanned by nonintrusive … imaging equipment and radiation detection equipment at a foreign port before it was loaded on a vessel.

Mr. László Kovács, the European Commission’s Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner, candidly shares his views with WCO News readers on the “Implementing Recommendations of the United States … 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 which mandates 100% scanning by 2012 of sea cargo destined for the United States.

In actively implementing an AEO programme in the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has adopted a robust approach where they expect company procedures to withstand their … audit – which will be detailed and wide-ranging. If issues arise HMRC will simply stop the “audit clock”; resuming, to an agreed timescale, only when corrections are made. Traders should accept this simple approach which may be considered as a best practise.

The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) recently celebrated its 5th birthday. The occasion warrants a review of the voluntary programme from the perspective of US small and medium … traders (SMEs). For while the programme is voluntary, if non-participation puts an SME at a competitive disadvantage versus larger and multinational corporations, does it leave the SME with any choices beyond join or lose? Apparently so, as evidenced by the typically independent behavior of SMEs.

The WCO and its Member administrations share with trade bodies a genuine concern to set and maintain a fair and fruitful balance between facilitation and security but they are not helped by sharp … differences in the ownership of each side of the equation.

Mutual recognition, a key concept in the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate global trade, became a reality on Friday 29 June 2007 when New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS) … Comptroller, Martyn Dunne, and United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) Commissioner, W. Ralph Basham, signed a bilateral supply chain security Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). The ceremony was witnessed by Members of the Council - the WCO’s supreme decision-making body - who had gathered in Brussels at the Organization’s headquarters for their annual sessions.

The World BASC (Business Alliance for Secure Commerce) Organization (WBO) is a private sector/Customs partnership that was established to promote the security of international trade in co-operation … with governments and international organisations. It is a non-profit organisation, constituted in the State of Delaware, USA, with over 2000 member companies in 16 countries throughout South and North America.