15 December 2008

Customs administrations feel $queeze

This article is extracted from the 15 December 2008 edition of “American Shipper”. Members can refer to the World Customs Organization’s statement from Buenos Aires, sent on 12 December. The CSCB President, Carol West, chairs the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) that advises the WCO. The immediate Past President, Michel Vallée, represents our sister organization, the IFCBA, at the PSCG.

With the decrease in global trade, customs administrations worldwide are collecting less import taxes and fees from shippers.

“We see a deteriorating market for trade finance; declining exports/imports for some countries; projections that aggregate international trade will decline; and customs administrations under pressure to continue to meet revenue forecasts despite the current conditions,” the … World Customs Organization concluded in a statement from its Dec. 9-11 Policy Commission in Buenos Aires.

The WCO said its 172 member administrations reported a “slight decrease” in revenue collected in November.

The organization is most concerned that the global economic meltdown could lead to “a possible new wave of protectionism that would exacerbate rather than alleviate the crisis.” Many developing countries, in particular, rely on the revenue collected from trade to finance government programs….

The WCO urged its members to avoid introducing “new barriers to trade, or measures which will increase costs and generate additional delays at the border.” In response, the WCO said it would take the following steps:

• Support security, safety and revenue collection efforts without hindering trade by developing a package of instruments and technical assistance, which support risk management and audit-based control and use of technology.
• Continue to support the World Trade Organization’s trade facilitation work.
• Strengthen customs modernization through expanded capacity building.
• Continue to work on the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) system and mutual recognition arrangements, with the objective of maintaining consistency to ensure that they are implemented broadly worldwide.
• Take into account the need of the costs and benefits of supply chain security arrangements to be consistent with the current financial climate and also -- at a time of falling revenues -- to recognize the importance of budget security for the developing countries.
• Promote enforcement of intellectual property rights to ensure public health and safety, and facilitate legitimate trade.

The WCO emphasized that these measures are already embodied in the revised International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, or Kyoto Convention.