21 October 2008

WCO to officially recognize array of border agencies

This article is excerpted from the 20 October 2008 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

The World Customs Organization is adding a new “pillar” to its supply-chain security doctrine to emphasize the role of many government agencies at the border, said Michael Schmitz, director of compliance and facilitation.

The SAFE Framework for Security and Trade Facilitation already has a clause referring to “integrated border management,” but that’s not enough to recognize the responsibilities that “other government agencies” -- agencies other than national customs administrations, known as OGAs -- have at the border…

In the United States, for example, The Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Product Safety Commission are charged with monitoring imports. Schmitz said most countries have many agencies present at the border, particularly in countries where customs collects revenue, but no law enforcement authority.

… [S]ome WCO members are uncomfortable with the “integrated” term. The term raises the specter of the kind of organizational transformation that U.S. Customs went through in 2003…. Schmitz said that the WCO Policy Council will likely change “integrated” to “cooperative coordinated border management” at its meeting in December.