Coordinated border management, a reality! Money laundering

Coordinated border management, a reality!

Money laundering: stopping cash couriers!

Single window: challenges and opportunities

No 59 June 2009

www.wcoomd.orgNEWSW C O

World Customs Organization

2 WCO News – No 59 – JUNE 2009

f l a S h i n f O

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3WCO News – No 59 – JUNE 2009

4 Calendar

5 Editorial

7 Buzz

9 Special report •WCOperspectivesoncoordinatedbordermanagement •NewZealandexperience •IntegratedbordermanagementinCanada •BordermanagementintheEuropeanUnion •BosniaandHerzegovina -TheECintegratedbordermanagementproject -Anagency’sviewpoint •Apersonaltradeperspective •ICTinthecross-borderenvironment •TheWCODataModel(Version3.0)

31 Flash Info

36 Zoom •CustomsandExciseDepartmentofHongKong,China

37 Our Members world

43 In conversation •DavidHunt(Australia),ChairpersonoftheDataModel

ProjectTeam •RayMcDonagh,HeadofAdministrationandPersonnel,on

modernizingtheWCOpublicationsdistributionmedia 46 Point of View •InternationalAtomicEnergyAgency. •Relevanceofanationaltraderulebook

49 Events •SixthWorldwideSecurityConference •2ndInternationalConferenceonIllicitCashCouriers •2009WCOPICARDConference,SanJose(CostaRica) •FifthGlobalCongressonCombatingCounterfeitingand

Piracy,Cancun(Mexico) •2009WCOITConferenceandExhibition,Marrakesh

(Morocco)

Editorial noteWCONewsisdistributedfreeofchargeinFrenchandinEng-lishtoCustomsadministrations,internationalorganisations,non-governmentalorganisations,thebusinesscommunityandotherinterestedreaders.ItshouldbementionedthatopinionsexpressedinWCONewsarethoseofthecontribu-torsanddonotnecessarilyreflecttheofficialviewsoftheWorldCustomsOrganization.ContributionsinEnglishorFrencharewelcomebutshouldbesubmittednotlaterthan10 August 2009.Inthisregard,theWCOreservestherighttopublish,nottopublish,ortoeditarticlestoensuretheirconformitywiththemagazine’seditorialpolicy.TheWCOCommunicationServiceisavailabletoattendtoallrequestsforsubscriptions,submissionofcontributionsforconsidera-tion,andanyotherenquiriesrelatingtoWCONews.Pleasee-mail:[email protected]

D/2009/0448/9

Copyright©2009WorldCustomsOrganizationAllrightsreserved. Requestsandenquiriesconcerningtranslation,reproductionandadaptationrightsshouldbeaddressedtocopyright@wcoomd.org

Acknowledgements:TheEditorialTeamwishestoexpressitssinceregratitudetoallwhocontributedtothispublication.

Pictures :Oursinceregratitudealsogoestoallwhokindlypro-videdphotos,logosanddrawingstoillustratethisissue.

Design : www.inextremis.be

Publishing ManagerKunioMikuriya

Editor-in-Chief DanielleMaïano

EditorsGrantBusbyLaureTempier

SubscriptionsJanineOlivier

Advertising

E-mails

Editorial & Subscriptions [email protected]

Advertising [email protected]

PublisherWorldCustomsOrganizationRueduMarché,30B-1210BrusselsBelgium

Tel.:+32(0)22099442Fax:+32(0)[email protected]@bb-communication.com

Contents WCO neWS N° 59June2009


C a l e n D a R

Calendar of Events

It should be noted that these meetings are mentioned for information purposes and are not all open to the public. Training Workshops are devoted to Private sector. Unless otherwise indicated, all meetings are held in Brussels. Please note that these dates are indicative only and may be subject to change. This document is regularly updated on the WCO Members’ web site, under the “Information for delegates” section, and on the WCO public web site: www.wcoomd.org

June

10 - 12 ExpertTrainingWorkshopforRightsHoldersonCombatingCounterfeitingandPiracy

11 - 12 InformationManagementSub-Committee(57thSession)

22 - 24 PolicyCommission(61thSession)

25 - 27 CouncilSessions(113th/114thSessions)

29 - 30 Inter-AgencyForumonCoordinatedBorderManagement

September

14 – 15 PublicationsFocusGroup

16 - 18 HarmonizedSystemCommitteeWorkingParty

21 – 02/10 HarmonizedSystemCommittee(44thSession)

28 - 30 PicardConference,SanJose(CostaRica)

October

1 – 2 DataModelProjectTeam

6 - 7 PrivateSectorConsultativeGroup

6 - 7 SAFEMeeting(Membersonly)

8 - 9 SAFEWorkingGroup(5thMeeting)

12 RevisedKyotoConventionManagementCommittee(7thMeeting)

13 - 14 TrainingWorkshoponHSforHigh-TechProducts

13 - 14 PermanentTechnicalCommittee(187th/188thSessions)

13 - 14 EnforcementCommittee(29thsession)

15 PermanentTechnicalCommitteeandEnforcementCommittee(combinedsession)

19 - 23 TechnicalCommitteeonCustomsValuation(29thSession)

21 - 22 TrainingWorkshoponHSforChemicalProducts

26 - 27 FinanceCommittee(88thSession)

28 - 29 IntellectualPropertyRightsWorkingGroup(IPR)

November

4 - 6 WCOGlobalConferenceon“SecurityandTechnology”

16 - 27 HarmonizedSystemReviewSub-Committee(39thSession)

17 - 19 TrainingWorkshoponRulesofOrigin

24 - 25 TrainingWorkshoponCustomsValuation&TransferPricing(subjecttomodification)

26 - 27 TrainingWorkshoponSAFE(subjecttomodification)

December

1 - 3 GlobalCongressonCombatingCounterfeitingandPiracy,Cancun(Mexico)

7 - 9 PolicyCommission(62ndSession)

10 - 11 RevenueStructuresConference


Dear reader,

With the benefit of five years’ experience in producing this magazine, the Secre-tariat decided to redesign WCO News while remaining faithful to your expecta-tions and offering a quality publication. The first echoes to come back to us from our loyal readers are very encouraging. Novelty, innovation, dynamism, utility - these are the values that guided our choice; values that infuse the everyday activi-ties of the Secretariat. In this issue the Special Report is devoted to coordinated border management (CBM), a fundamental component of the forward-looking “Customs in the 21st Century” strategic policy.

The introduction of this topic has made it possible to gather the experience of various Customs administrations that have begun implementing the concept and compare it with the approach of some of our partners, in terms of both strategy and practical applications. This will allow us to initiate the deliberations to be held at the Council Sessions during a panel discussion on "The Foundations for Coordinated Border Management". These deliberations will be pursued in greater depth directly after the Council Sessions at the Inter-Agency Forum on CBM being held at WCO Headquarters in Brussels from 29 to 30 June this year. Together these events clearly illustrate the WCO’s desire for dialogue, concerted effort, the exchange of experiences and the discussion of new ideas; to serve as a centre for “brainstorming” or as a “Customs think tank”.

In this connection, the WCO, following directly on from the communiqué on the global financial crisis issued by participants attending the Policy Commission meeting in December 2008, sent a letter to the G20 informing the world’s most influential leaders of the concerns of the international Customs community re-garding the consequences of the global trade crisis. Without wishing to appropri-ate certain terms that appear in the final declaration of the G20, it is undeniable that the WCO’s appeal did not remain a “dead letter” and was heard.

Finally, before you go on to explore this new issue, I should like to make one last point. At the Council Sessions in June, in addition to determining the WCO’s strategic orientation, Directors General of Customs will elect a new Deputy Sec-retary General to reinforce the Secretariat’s management team - a multitalented, mutually supportive and united team, working for a transparent, dynamic and efficient Organization, at the service of its Members.

I trust you will enjoy reading this edition.

Kunio MikuriyaSecretary General

e D i T O R i a l


f l a S h i n f O


BUZZ• Last minute! PravinGordhan,formerChairpersonoftheWCOCouncil(2001-2006)andCommissionerfortheSouthAfricanRev-enueService(SARS),hasbeenappointedMinisterofFinancebythenewPresidentofSouthAfrica.OupaMagashulawillactasSARSCommissioneruntilanewChiefisappointed.

• Love it! TheMuseumofLifeattheBorder,whichishousedintheformervillagepresbyteryinGodewaersvelde(France),showcasesob-jectsanddocumentsdescribingthestoryofCustomsandsmuggling,bothpastandpresent.Thelayoutpresentstheexhibitsinahighlyinformativeandaccessibleway.UponentryintotheMuseum,visitorsaregivenanillustratedbrochure(availableinEnglish,FrenchandDutch)thatprovidesentertainingcommentarythroughoutthetour.Bypriorarrangementwiththetownhall,aguidedtourcanbeorganizedofferinganecdotesaboutandaccountsofCustomsandsmugglingaswellasinformationonbor-dertraditions.Therearealsovariousthemedzonesforvisitorsinwhatusedtobethepar-ishpriest’sformalgarden.From1 March to 31 October 2009theMuseum,incollabora-tionwithFrance’sNationalInstituteforIn-dustrialProperty(Institutnationalfrançaisdelapropriétéindustrielle),ishostingthe "Counterfeiting, no thanks!" exhibition whichwasonshowinBrusselsduringtheJune2006Councilsessions.www.musee-godewaersvelde.fr

• Trophy AttheJune2009CouncilsessionstheWCOwillawarditstrophy for com-bating counterfeiting and piracyforthe4thyear.AllWCOMemberadministra-tionshavebeeninvitedtoenter.Thecri-teriaforselectingthewinnerwillincludethenatureandquantityofgoodsseized,healthandsafetyriskstotheconsumer(howdangeroustheproductswere),andtheinventivenessofthetechniquesusedbytheoffenders.Lookoutfortheresultsinournextissue!www.wcoomd.org

• Accession On27March2009,Georgia depos-ited its instrument of accession to the

International Convention on the Har-monized Commodity Description and Coding System (HarmonizedSystem).TheConventionwillenterintoforceinGeorgiaon1January2011,unlessGeorgiadecidestospecifyanearlierdate.www.wcoomd.org

• For your diary ! Don’tforgettheInternational Day against Drug Abuse and Drug Traffick-ing on26 June.ThisispartoftheWCO’sprogrammeofactionagainstdrugsandprecursors.Onthatday,theSecretaryGeneralhas invitedDirectorsGeneralofCustomstoorganizenationaleventsatwhichdrugsandprecursorsseizedbytheirserviceswillbedestroyed.Thiswillheightenpublicawarenessofthefactthatdrugsposeathreattosocietyasawhole,thatno-oneissafefromthem,andthatthisisanissueofconcerntousall.www.wcoomd.org

• A first! TheWCOinvitesallitsMemberstoparticipateinaphoto competition.Thethemeis "Customs services in action in their day-to-day work".TheobjectiveistogivefreereintothecreativeimaginationwhilstillustratingthediversityofCustomsactivitiesaroundtheworld.ThesephotoswillcontributetotheWCO’seffortstopromotetheessentialroleofCustomsasthe"guardianoftheborder".www.wcoomd.org

• Look out for TheWCO’sannualreportsondrugs,tobaccoproductsandintellectualprop-ertyrights,whichwillbepublishedintimefortheWCOCouncilsessionsinlateJune2009.Theyhavebeenredesignedtomaketheircontentmorereadableandeasiertouse,andalsotomeetMembers’expecta-tions.www.wcoomd.org

• Notepad On30April2009theWTOGeneralCouncilagreedtoreappointcurrentWTODirector-GeneralPascalLamyforasecond4-yeartermwhichwillcommenceon1Sep-tember2009.www.wto.org

• Appointments Recently-appointed Directors General of Customs:Mr.E.Pemam(Al-bania);Mr.A.Nasiruddin(Bangladesh);Mr.W.Vargas(Bolivia);Mr.Y.Idris(Bru-neiDarussalam);Mr.M.Touré(Guinea);Ms.D.T.King-Sackie(Liberia);Mr.B-S.Nwadialo(Nigeria);Mr.MunirQureshi(Pakistan);MrC.M.RamirezRodriguez(Peru);Mr.A.Sesay(SierraLeone);Mr.RonaldCafrine(Seychelles)andMr.O.Esenov(Turkmenistan).www.wcoomd.org

• News DGTaxationandCustomsUnion(DGTAXUD)attheEuropeanCommissionhaslaunchedaneweLearningsectiononitswebsite.Informationclipsandfullcoursesonarangeofcustoms-relatedtopicsarefreetodownloadanduse.Moremoduleswillbeaddedthroughouttheyear.http://ec.europa.eu/customs_tax_elearning

• What’s New TheWTOhaspublishedastatisticalbrochureentitled"TradeProfiles2008".ItcontainsnationalandtradestatisticsofWTOMembersandcountrieswhichareintheprocessofnegotiatingWTOmembership,aswellasinformationontradeflowsandtradepolicymeasuresofMembers,Observersandotherselectedeconomies.Thisdocumentcanbedown-loadedfromtheWTOwebsite.www.wto.org

• Info The5thEditionoftheWorldCustomsJournalfromtheInternationalNetworkofCustomsUniversities(INCU)isnowavail-able.ThisnewvolumeoftheJournalhasasitsthemetheuseofinformationandcom-municationstechnology(ICT)inthecross-borderenvironment,andfeaturesanumberofarticlesthatexaminethetopicfromtheperspectiveofcoordinatedbordermanage-ment.TheJournal(Volume3,number1,May2009)canbedownloadedonthefollowingWebsite:www.worldcustomsjournal.org

B U Z Z


f l a S h i n f O

It is 10:30 p.m. at a border crossingA man waits in a late-model cargo van, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Instructed to drive through the screeningsystem, the driver, a regular, confidently complies. He grins, shifts into gear, and directsthe vehicle through the portal. A Customs officer carefully analyzes three X-ray images on the system’s

monitor. Several anomalies are clearly visible in the front tire, driver’s side. The officer immediately knows he

is looking at a large quantity of drugs. “Could you step out, sir?” says another official. The man’s grin vanishes

Would your cargo inspection system find the drugs? If you don’t have the Z Portal® system, it won’t AS&E’s Z Portal three-sided screening system uses proprietary Z Backscatter technology to detect stowawaysdrugs, explosives, and other contraband, which appear bright white in the image for easy image interpretation

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ZP_ad_WCO_010908_ :WCO 1/12/09 5:46 PM Page 1

S P e C i a l R e P O R T


WhenbroachingtheconceptofCoor-dinatedBorderManagement(CBM),

factorssuchaspartnershipbetweenserv-ices,coordination,cooperationwithtradepartners,consistencyandrationalizationofresources,cometothefore.

However,themostdifficultpartisnotreallydefiningtheconcept,despitethefactthatthereisnostandardsystemin

existence,butratherimplementingit.Al-thoughtheobjectiveisthesimplificationofbordercontrolstofacilitatelegitimatetrade,theactivitiesofStatesincarryingouttheirgoverningmissionrelatingtobordercontrolsandallthisentailsmustnotbeimpeded.

ThisSpecialReportdrawstogethertheexperienceofpioneeringcountriesandor-

ganizationsaswellasthethoughtsofsomeofoursteadfastexpertsandcontributors,tooffereveryoneaclearerpictureofthisconceptandeverythingitimplies.

MartynDunne,theChairpersonoftheCouncilandaregularWCONewscolumn-ist,alsogivesusadetailedaccountoftheNewZealandCustomsService’sexperi-enceinthisdomain.

Special Report Coordinated Border Management





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Rightnow,governments, thebusi-nesscommunityandindividualsare

focusedonimprovingtheirrespectivefinancialsituationsasamatterofabso-lutenecessityduringthiscurrentglobaleconomicdownturn.Tradeisakeydriv-erofeconomicperformance,andimple-mentingacoordinatedbordermanage-mentstrategyinvolvingnewlevelsofintegrationandcollaborationbetweenpublicandprivatesectorsiswidelyseenascriticaltobolstertradeflows,whilefacilitatingtheachievementofnationaleconomicandsocietalgoals.

In June 2008, theWCO adopted its‘Customsinthe21stCentury,EnhancingGrowthandDevelopmentthroughTradeFacilitationandBorderSecurity’policydocument.Better coordinatedbordermanagement(CBM)ishighlightedasoneofthe10strategicbuildingblocksofthisforward-lookingdocument.TheWCOac-

knowledgesthatnationalstateshavefullsovereigntytodeterminetheframeworkofrules,regulationsandpolicieswithintheir territory and that eachnationalbordercontrolsystemwillreflectdiffer-entnationalneedsandconcerns.Never-theless,theOrganizationfeelsthatCBMiscriticaltotheoveralleffectivenessinmanaginginternationalsupplychains.

Variousservicesandagenciesareinvolvedinimplementingbordercontrolsand,inmanycountries, thereareamyriadofinspectionsthattakeplaceattheborder–Customsinspections,veterinaryinspec-tions,phyto-sanitaryinspections,andim-migrationinspectionstonameafew.Thecomplexityoftheborderenvironmentde-mandsastructuredmethodforrational-izingthemeansbywhichregulationsaregiveneffectandforsynchronizingstrate-giesbetweenborderagencies.Indeed,ifinspectionsarenotproperlymanaged,theresultisslowclearancetimes,delaystotravellers,inflatedinvestmentinservicesandinfrastructure,andincreasedcoststothetradeandultimatelytotheendconsumer.

There isno standard systemofCBM.Modelsdevelopedacrosstheworldcovereverythingfromcollaborativeeffortsatbordercrossings,utilizationofjointfa-cilities,officerscross-trainedtoperformmultifunctionaltasks,commonICTsys-tems,tofullintegrationofservicesunderonedepartmentoragencywithallbor-derresponsibilities.TheWCOrecognizesthatthisisacomplexareaandwillassistitsMembersinenhancingtheirworkingrelationswiththetradeandtheircol-leaguesinothernationalagenciesthathaveborderresponsibilities.CBMalsoextendstothecoordinationofpoliciesbetweentradingcountries,throughtheadoptionofinternationalinstrumentsandstandards.Withthisinmind,theWCOhaspublishedacompendiumthatdealswiththedifferentelementstobeconsideredandthenecessarystepstobetakenwhenimplementingaCBMsystem

WCO perspectives on coordinated border management

withaviewtofacilitatingcross-bordertransactions.Inaddition,theOrganiza-tionisnowpreparingaguidewhichwillcontainkeyCBMelementsandwhichwilllisttheWCOtoolsthatwouldbeofbenefittogovernmentsconsideringtheimplementationofaCBMsystem.

ThereareindeedalreadymanyexistingWCOinstrumentsthatarerelevanttoCBM:

•TheGeneralAnnexoftheWCORevisedKyotoConventiononthesimplificationandharmonizationofCustomsproce-duresaddressesalltheessentialele-mentsrequiredtoimplementaCBMsystem.

•TheInternationalConventionontheHarmonizedSystemcommodityde-scriptionandcodingsystemprovidesinternational standardization in thefieldoftariffclassification.

•TheIntegratedSupplyChainManage-ment Guidelines contain standardsrelating to theadvanceprovisionofinformationongoods.

•TheAdvancePassenger InformationGuidelinesprovidestandardsfortheadvancesubmissionofinformationontravellers.

•TheSAFEFrameworkofStandardstosecure and facilitate global trade isbasedontwopillars,namely,Customs-to-CustomsnetworkingarrangementsandaCustoms-to-Businesspartner-ship.There isnowathird ‘Customs-to-Government’pillarindevelopmentthatforeseesCBMamongallnationalentitieswithbordercontrolresponsi-bilities.

•TheInternationalConventiononMutualAdministrativeAssistanceforthePre-vention,InvestigationandRepressionofCustomsOffences(NairobiConven-tion),andtheInternationalConvention

TheGlobalFacilitationPartnershipforTrans-portationandTradedefinesthe‘IntegratedBorderManagement’conceptas‘theorganiza-tionandsupervisionofborderagencyactivitiestomeetthecommonchallengeoffacilitatingthemovementoflegitimatepeopleandgoodswhilemaintainingsecurebordersandmeetingnationallegalrequirements’.



WCO perspectives on coordinated border management

onMutualAdministrativeAssistancein CustomsMatters ( JohannesburgConvention) provide the legal basisforinternationalcooperationbetweenCustomsadministrations.TheWCOhasalsodevelopedaModelBilateralAgreementonMutualAdministrativeAssistanceinCustomsMatters,whichservesasimilarpurpose.

•TheWCOhasalsobeenactiveintheglobaldevelopmentoftheelectronictradesinglewindowconcept.Version3.0oftheWCODataModel,dueforfinalreleaselaterin2009,catersforthelodgmentofdatatomeettheregula-toryrequirementsofmultipleagencieswithborderresponsibilities.ThedesignoftheDataModelwillpermitthesub-missionofthisdataonetimeonlytofacilitateriskassessmentandrelease.

•TheTimeReleaseStudy(TRS)isatoolformeasuringtheaveragetimetakenbetweenthearrivalofgoodsandtheirultimate release.Timetaken for theprocessesandprocessingateach in-terveningstepisalsomeasured.Theobjectiveistoidentifybottlenecksinreleaseproceduresandtoprovidesolu-tionstoissuesthatcausedelaysintheoverallclearancetimesattheborder.

WhiletheTRSisspecificallydevelopedforCustomsauthorities,itsmethodol-ogy couldprove especially useful forotherborderagenciesandprivatesec-torplayers,asitprovidesanestablishedmethodologyapplicabletoall.Thetoolcouldbeastimulustostartthedialogueonbordermanagementissuesbetweenallpartiesinvolvedininternationalsup-plychainmanagement.

Tocommencediscussionsbetweenbor-deragencies,theWCOisorganizingan

Inter-Agency Forum on CoordinatedBorderManagementthatisscheduledtotakeplaceinBrusselsfrom29to30June2009.Theaimoftheforumistoengageparties involvedattheborderwithaviewtofacilitatingdiscussionsonhowcooperationandcoordinationwillcontributetothedeliveryofbetterservicesforgovernmentandbusinessatbordersinthefuture.

More [email protected]



ThisissueoftheWCONewsfocuseson coordinated border manage-

ment,atopicwhichisnowonthein-

Source:p14,BetterConnectedServicesforKiwis,InstituteofPolicyStudies,NewZealand,July

2008

ternationalCustomsagendaandwhichhasbeengivenprominencebyitsinclusionin“Customsinthe21stCentury”;astrategicpolicyadopted by theCouncil of theWCO at its June 2008 annualsessions.

Sofar,thereseemtobetwobroadapproaches to government ar-rangementsforbordermanage-mentinthe21stcentury:combin-ingallborderfunctions(Customs,immigration and quarantine/biosecurity,etc)intoasingleor-ganization;andvarioustypesofsharedor cooperative arrange-mentsbetweenborderagencies,withamixofcombinedfunctionsandstandalonefunctions.Thesemodelsareaimingforthesameoutcome – integrated border

management(integrationwithindustryisanother importantcomponent,butisnotthefocusofthisarticle).Perhapsakeydifferencebetweenthem is the

purposeforwhichintegrationissought.Forexample,somecountriesareseek-inggreatersecurity;othersareseekinggreatertradebenefits,or,asinthecaseofNewZealand,efficiencyandservicedeliverygains.

Working together to achieve integration

WhiletheWCOhasfocusedforsometimeonworkingwithindustry,Iwanttofocusoncollaborationbetweenborderagencies–anarea that theWCOhasfocusedonless.Inourinterconnectedworld, border agencies have toworktogethermorecloselythaninthepast.Customsadministrationsareoftenallo-catedtheleadagencyroleattheborderandthatbehovesustounderstandtheconnectionsbetweenourworkandthatofourcolleagueagencies,or,foradmin-istrationscoveringallborderfunctions,how thedifferent functions interact.RecentresearchinNewZealandontheways in which government agencies

The New Zealand experience by the Chairperson of the WCO Council



worktogether revealedthatdifferentsituationscallfordifferenttypesofen-gagement.Thesetypesofengagementcanbecategorizedalongacontinuumthatrepresentsthedegreeofintensityof ‘togetherness’.Collaborationisthemostintensivelyconnectedatoneend,andco-existenceistheleastconnectedattheother.

Itispossibleforgovernmentagenciestohavedifferentintensitiesofengagementwithoneanotheratthesametime.Forexample,even iftherearestrongele-mentsofcollaborationinarelationship,collaborationwillnotapplytoeveryas-pectofeachagency’swork.Therewillbe areaswhere engagement ismoreappropriatelyoneofcooperationorco-ordination,andothersthatrequirenoengagementatall.Thediagram(figure1)depictsthecontinuumandexplainswhateachstagerepresents.

TheNewZealandexperienceofwork-ingwithourcolleagueborderagenciesisthatcollaborationcomprisesasmallandveryintensivepartofourcollectivework,andthatmostofwhatwedoto-getheriscooperationandcoordination.Understandingthedifferencebetweenthesetypesofengagementisveryim-portantforworkingoutwhodoeswhatattheborder,understandingtheamountofeffortinvolved,whotakesthelead,whether there needs to be commonstandardsornotandhowthework isfunded.Integrationisimportantnotjustbetweenbutalsowithinouradministra-tions.NewZealandhaslongunderstoodtheconnectionsbetweentheflowsofpeople,goodsandcraftacrossthebor-der,andwefindthatweneedinternalcollaborationandcooperationasmuchasexternal.Sothiscontinuumcanbeusedtohelpusunderstandwhatsortofconnectionsweneedforparticularsitu-ations.

Thereisincreasingresearchaboutwork-ingtogethertoguideus,butthereisnosubstitutefordoingit.IwanttosharewithyoutheNewZealandcollaborativeapproachandwhatwearelearningfromtheprocess.WhilethatapproachsitswithintheframeoftheWCO’sgeneric

bestpracticeinthe21stcenturywhichaspiresto“ahighly integratedbordermanagementapproachwithstrongpo-liticalsupportcommensuratewiththeimportanceofCustomstotheborder”,whenIlookaroundtheworld,IseeweinNewZealandaredoingthingsquiteabitdifferentlyfrommostothernations.Whyisthatandwhatcanotheradminis-trationslearnfromourapproach?

Components of New Zealand’s border management system

Threemainagencieshave‘bordercon-trolauthority’powers–theNewZealandCustomsService(NZCS),theMinistryofAgricultureandForestry(MAF)andtheImmigrationServiceintheDepartmentofLabour(DoL).Therolesoftheseagen-ciesarearesponsetothecharacteristicsofournation.NewZealandisanislandnation,threeandahalfhours’flighttime

awayfromitsclosestneighbour,Aus-tralia.WearethereforeintheenviablepositionofbeingabletousetheborderasasignificantcontrolpointnotonlyforCustomsandimmi-gration purposesbutalsotoprotectourcountry’suniquef lora and fauna.Biosecurity is veryimportanteconom-icallyasitprotectstheprimary indus-tr ies which formthemajorityofourexports,itprotectsouruniqueenviron-ment and it keepsus freeofdiseaseslikefootandmouthand‘madcow’,thusprovidinguswithan

importantmarketadvantage.Aswellasournaturaladvantages,weareatech-nologicallydevelopedcountry,andhavebeenusingtechnologytohelpusmanageourbordersincetheearly1980s.

Customsistheonlybordercontrolau-thorityforwhichbordermanagementisitsprimaryrole.Itregulatestheflowsofpeople,goodsandcraftcrossingNewZealand’sborder,exercisesbordercon-trolsoverillicitflows,facilitatesflowsforlegitimatetradersandtravellersandcollectsrevenue.Italsoundertakespri-mary immigrationprocessingatNewZealandportsandairportsonbehalfoftheDoL.TheDoL’sImmigrationServicesarechargedwithdecidingwhocantravelto,enterandstayinNewZealandandunderwhatconditions.Theyalsoproc-essvisaandpermitapplicationsoffshore,screenallpassengerstravellingtoNewZealandatcheck-inandundertakesec-ondaryprocessingat theborder.TheDoL’slimitedphysicalpresenceattheborderisareflectionofourislandstatus.TheMAF’sroleistopreventrisksasso-ciatedwithunwantedorganisms,pestsanddiseasesfromenteringNewZealand.Currentlytaskedwith100%screeningofallbaggageandcargo,MAFhasalargephysicalpresenceattheborder.Thisrep-resentsourcountry’sstronginterestsinmaintainingbiosecurity.

There are threeother agencies inourbordersector,noneofwhicharebordercontrolauthoritiesbutallofwhichhave

The New Zealand experience by the Chairperson of the WCO Council

“In our interconnected world, border agencies have to work together

more closely than in the past"



particularinterestsintheoperationofborderprocesses–theMinistryofTrans-port(MoT),theDepartmentofInternalAffairs(DIA)andtheNewZealandFoodSafetyAuthority(NZFSA).MoTisrespon-sibleforregulatingthetransportindustry,includingportandairportoperators,andoverseesAviationSecurityandMaritimeNZwhichproviderelatedsecurityserviceswherethebordersysteminterfaceswiththetransportsystem.Portandairportop-erators,togetherwithshippingandairlinecompanies,haveacriticalinterfacewiththeborderagencies.Theotheragenciesareinvolvedinparticularborderprocess-es–DIAisresponsibleforNewZealand’sIdentityServices,includingissuingofNewZealandPassportsandNZFSAisrespon-sible forcertifyingthequalityof foodexports.Fifteenotheragencieshaveaninterestinusingthebordermanagementsystemtomitigatedomestic risk (e.g.drugs),tosupportdomesticpolicy(e.g.datamatchingforbenefitfraud)andtoprovideservicessuchastheprovisionofinformationtoStatisticsNZ.

New Zealand’s collaborative bor-der management model

TheNewZealandgovernmentpaysforbor-dermanagementservices,withsomecostre-coveryfromimportersandexporterswherethereisconsideredtobeaprivateaswellasapublicbenefit.Ourservicesarethereforeunderpressurefromchangesofvolumes,aswellashighexpectationsfromindustryand

travellersofefficient,effec-tiveandseamlessservicedelivery.Almosttwoyearsago,ratherthancreatingasingleborderagency,NewZealandadoptedamodelofbordersectorcoopera-tionandcollaborationtobetteraddressthesepres-sures–Australiahasre-centlytakenasimilarpath,thoughwithdifferentgov-ernancearrangements.

Leadership and gov-ernance

Atthecoreofourmod-el istheBorderSector

GovernanceGroup(BSGG),which,alongwithmeasChair,includesthechiefex-ecutives ofMAF,DoL,MoT,DIA andNZFSA.TheBSGGprovidesthestrategicoverview,directionanddecision-makingacrossthebordersector,supportedbyasmallsecretariatandaseniorofficialsgroup.AstrategicframeworkprovidescleardirectionforthesectorandtheBSGG’smorecoordinatedengagementwithindustrystakeholdersbringsadi-recttradeandtravelsupplychainper-spectivetoourwork.

Direction

Thekeyresultareasforthesectorareef-ficiency,effectivenessandmorerespon-siveservices.Thekeymeansareachievedthroughcreatingacohesiveborderman-agementsystem.Thesetwoelementsareexpressedinthebordersectorvisionandobjective:

•Vision-“Deliverexcellentborderman-agementoutcomesforNewZealandbythinkingandactingasone”.

•Objective-“Anintegratedandresponsivebordermanagement system thatbestservesNewZealand’sinterestsbyfacilitat-ingtradeandtravelwhilemanagingrisk”

Wehavedevelopedasectorcollaborationstrategythatdescribeshowweworkto-getherandaworkprogrammethatreflectsthebordersector’spriorityareasofwork.

How it works in practice

Therearethreetypesofactivitywithinthesector:

•Theformalsectoractivitiesboundupinfourpriorityworkprogrammes:enhancingpassengerfacilitationandmanagementofriskatairports;developingamulti-agencytradesinglewindow;developingasectorapproachtothemanagementofidentity;anddevelopingacohesiveapproachtointelligenceandriskmanagementforthesector.Theseprogrammesarelabour-in-tensiveandthemostchallengingaspectsofourwork,particularlywhereinitiativesinvolvecollaborationratherthancoordi-nation.

•Twomajor information technologysystemsdevelopments;theareawheredeepintegrationisoccurring.CustomsandtheMAFaredesigningaground-breakingjointbordermanagementsys-tem(JBMS)thatwillmeetbothagen-cies’needs.Thetradesinglewindow,whichwillgiveindustryasingleelec-tronicinterfacewithborderagencies,ispartofthedesign.DoLisdesigninganewimmigrationinformationsystemwhichwill interfaceseamlesslywiththeJBMSforborder-relatedinforma-tionprovisionandexchange,prima-rilyinvolvingthemovementofpeopleacrosstheborder.

•Informaland spontaneousactivitiesarisinginthefrontlineasstafffromallborderagenciesactonopportunitiesforgreatercoordination

Once implemented, the work pro-grammesand informationsystemde-velopmentswillbringastepchangeinintegrationtothesector.

Animportantgroupformaintaininganoverviewoftheworkprogrammes,ofthelessformalsectoractivitiesandofemergingissuesistheSeniorCoordina-tionandAdvisoryGroup.Throughbuild-ingtrust,thisgrouphasfreeandfrankdiscussionsaboutinteragencytensionsandwiderpolicyandoperationalmat-tersaffectingthesector.Theysupportthe BSGG as a group and individual



members brief and advise their owndepartmentalheadonissuesandmat-tersneedingdecisions.TheSecretariatplaysan importantcoordinationroleinthesector,providingneutralgroundfor bringing together cross-agencywork.It isstaffedbysecondedrepre-sentativesofCustoms,MAFandDoLandthiscross-agencyapproachisverysuccessful.CustomsandMAFhavesetupinternalgroupsthatensuredepart-mentalandsectorthinkingandworkarealigned,andhavecreatednewrolestoassistwithinternalandexternalcoor-dinationofsectormatters.

Developingcommondefinitions,stand-ardsandapproachestobordermanage-mentisalessvisiblebutimportantareaofcollaboration.Whencomplete,thiswillmakefuturecooperativeandcollabora-tiveworksomucheasier.Areasweareworkingonthroughtheworkprogrammesareintelligenceframe-works,riskmanagementdefinitions,informationsharingprocessesandstandards,andidentityprocessesandprinciplesattheborder.ThefurtherexpansionoftheCustomsNationalTargetingCentreintoaresourcefortheborder,withstafffromMAF,DoLandMaritimeNZworkingtogetherwithCustoms,tofurtherdevelopourcollectiveriskassessment,ispromising.SomeofthisworkalsoinvolvesourAustralianborderagencycolleagues,addingcomplexitytoanalreadychallengingtask.

Why this model?

Since the late1980s,various reviewsrepeatedly recommended structuralchange,butnonewaseverimplemented.Thesereviewsidentifiedsimilarissuesarisingfromseveralagenciesoperatingattheborder:operationaloverlaps,du-plicationandgaps,andthereforeineffi-ciencies;conflictsamongthestrategiesofvariousborderagencies,andopportu-nitiesforbettercoordination,coopera-tion,communicationand informationsharing.In2007,thethenGovernmentconcludedthatasingleagencywouldnotnecessarilydelivergreaterefficien-cyandcoordinationgiventhedegreeofspecialistskillsandknowledgerequired

toundertaketheprincipalborderman-agementactivities.ThecommitmentoftheBSGGtoachievegreaterintegrationattheborderwithoutstructuralchangewasanotherimportantfactor.

What have we learnt?

Environmental settingNewZealand’sStateServicesCommission(SSC)hasbeenpromotingthedevelopmentofsharedoutcomesbetweengovernmentagenciesforsomeyears.Theyhavesixde-velopmentgoalsforthestatesector,oneofwhichis“CoordinatedStateAgencies”.Theyhaveidentifiedthreekeyfactorsforsuccessfulcoordination–mandate,systemsandbehaviours–whichhaveguidedourthinkingaboutwhatisneededtomakethesectorsucceed.WiththeelectionofanewGovernmentinNovemberlastyear,andthe

globalrecession,thebordersectorisbeingpushedtodelivertangibleresultsquickly.TheGovernmentisalsointerestedinseeingifthe‘sectoralway’ofworkingcandelivertheresultstheywant.WeareabouttoseekareaffirmationofthemodelfromthenewGovernment.Thiswillprovidestabilitytoourapproachforthenextfewyears.Inter-estingly,wehaveobservedthatmuchoftheworkwearedoingorplanningtodowouldbeneededevenifasingleborderagencywasbeingcreated.Thisisbecausemuchofthechangerequiredisbehavioural–learn-ingmoreaboutoneanother’s’agenciesanddevelopingdeeperrelationshipsbasedonthatknowledgeandtrust.

Step-by-stepEvenwithguidancefromtheSSC,thereisnoinstructionbookonhowtomakeoursortofarrangementswork.Infact,SSCarelearningfromus,asweareseenasamodelforsimilartypesofjointworkingwithinthepublicsectorinNewZealand.Wehavethereforehadtorecognizethatsomethingswetrywon’twork,andthatwedoneedtorecognizewhenadjustmentsareneeded.For

example,fortheformalworkprogrammes,wehavetriedtwodifferentapproachestooversightandaccountabilitythataimedtorepresentcross-agencyinterestswithoutbeingoverlybureaucratic.Andwehaven’tgotitquiterightyet!

Risk of collaboration fatigueInthebordersectorcontext,allborderagencieshaveastakeintheborderob-jectiveIreferredtoearlier.Thisisabitdifferentfromeachagency’sfocusonourowncontributiontobordermanage-ment.Workingcollaborativelywidensthescopeofourattentionandinterest.Itisintensebecauseoftheeffortneededtodevelopunderstandingandrespectforourcolleagues’activitiesandmakesenseofhowallouractivitiesfittogether.Get-tingtoamutuallyagreedwayforwardcanthereforetakealotlongerthanif

thedifferentinterestswereman-agedbyonedepartmentalhead.Atthestart,seniorstaffspentalotof timeatmeetings, tryingto determinepriorities for thesectorandtoworkouthowthenewarrangementswouldworkinpractice.Manypeoplesaw‘this

sectorthing’eatinguptheirtimeandatonepointtherewasariskthatthewholeprocesswouldcollapseunderitsownweight.Understandingthatwewereexperiencingastandardpartnershipde-velopmentcyclewashelpful.Ithelpedusmanagethepressuresatthetime.Thediagram(figure2)setsoutthestagesofpartnershipdevelopment.

Ibelieveweareatapointnowwherewehavetobeabletodistinguishbetweenworkthatneedstobecollaborativeandworkthatisbettermanagedbytheagencywiththeprimaryinterestinit.Thiswillgiveusbetterand,insomecases,quickerresults.

Strong commitment from depart-mental headsThe BSGG provides a powerful focalpointandamechanismforsortingoutsomepersistent‘boundary’issues.Ourregularmeetingshavedeepenedrela-tionshipsbetweenborderagencydepart-mentalheads,andhavegotusdiscussingtopicsthatwouldnotnecessarilyhavebeendiscussedbefore,bothasagroup

"The value of our approach is that we are all committed to the best outcome for New Zealand, and

that’s what we have to focus on"





andone-on-one.Thatisnottosaythediscussionsarenotsometimesdifficult.Theyare.ThevalueofourapproachisthatweareallcommittedtothebestoutcomeforNewZealand,andthat’swhatwehavetofocuson.

Cross-involvement for better under-standingPeople involved in sector work havedemonstratedahigh levelofcommit-menttothecollectiveresult.Theworkisattimeschallenging,frustratingandlabour-intensive,butitisalsoextremelysatisfying.Peopleseemtoenjoylearningmoreabouttheircolleagueagenciesandworkingtogethertoachieveresultsthatbenefiteveryone.Infact,therehasbeenkeeninterestinthesecondmentsbetweenborderagenciesthathaveresultedfromthisnewwayofworking.

Working with different ‘mental models’Someagencies,suchasCustoms,areac-tion-oriented;othersaremorereflective

andanalytical.Whenthereistime,thedifferencesofapproachareastrengthforthesector,withthemorethoughtfulagenciesinjectingrigourintotheconcep-tualunderpinningsoftheworkandthemoreaction-orientedagencieskeepingafocusonachievingpractical,observableresults.However,whenthereispressurefromtheGovernmenttoshiftdirectionortodeliveraspecific resultwithinacertaintimeframe,thedifferentmentalmodelscancausefriction.Thistensionwillnevergoaway.Itisnotnecessarilyabadthingaslongasitisunderstoodandworkedwithtoensureitdoesn’tunder-minecollectivegoals.

A work in progress

TheNewZealandmodelisstillrelative-lyyoung,and it isawork inprogress.Workingtogethermorecloselycanbeafrustratingexperienceattimes,andprogresscanappeartobeslow.Ontheotherhand,eachagencyattheborderhasanimportantrole,andbyworking

togethermoreclosely,wecangetthebenefitofeachagency’sknowledgeandexpertisewithout thedisruptionofarestructure.Workingtogetherisalsoawayofpreventing‘groupthink’.Otheragenciesprovideanotherwayoflookingatthings,andwhilethatisnotalwayscomfortable,itcanprovideausefulre-alitycheckonwhatwearedoingattheborderandwhy.

More informationwww.customs.govt.nz

Source:p44,BetterConnectedServicesforKiwis,InstituteofPolicyStudies,NewZealand,July2008



Integrated Border Management in Canada

Canada’smodelbroughttogetherallthemajorplayersinvolvedinmanag-

ingthemovementofgoodsandpeopleintoCanadatoformoneorganization,theCanadaBorderServicesAgency(CBSA).TheCBSAcombinedseveralkeyfunctionspreviouslyspreadamongthreeorganiza-tions:theCustomsprogrammefromtheCanadaCustomsandRevenueAgency;theIntelligence,InterdictionandEnforcementprogrammefromCitizenshipandImmigra-tionCanada;andtheImportInspectionatPortsofEntryprogrammefromtheCana-dianFoodInspectionAgency.Atthesametime,theCBSAbecamepartofthePublicSafetyCanadaportfoliothatwascreatedin2003toensurecoordinationacrossallfed-eraldepartmentsandagenciesresponsiblefornationalsecurity,emergencymanage-ment,lawenforcement,corrections,crimepreventionandborderservices.

Overthepast fiveyears, theCBSAhasevolvedintoanintegratedbordermanage-mentagency,deliveringitsprogrammesandservicesinahighlycomplexenviron-ment.TheCBSAisresponsibleforprocess-

ingcloseto100millionpeopleand400billionCanadianDollarsintradeeachyearatapproximately1,200pointsofserviceacrossCanadaandsomeinternationalloca-tions.Withinthiscontext,andbyprudentlymanagingresourcesandcontinuallyseekingopportunitiestoimproveoperationalandcostefficiencies,theAgencydeliversawiderangeofprogrammesandservicesforpeo-pleandgoods.

OnDecember12,2008,theCBSAcelebrat-editsfifthanniversary.Achievementswererecognizedandarenewedvisionofborderintegritywaslaunchedforthefuture.“Bor-derintegrityisaviewofbordermanagementthatunifiestheadministrationofmultipleresponsibilities,locations,servicesandpeo-pleacrosstheAgency,”saidCBSAPresidentStephenRigby.“Toachievethis,theCBSA’schangeagendawillfocusonimprovingourcapacitytomanageriskbypushingtheborderout,enhancingtheAgency’spublicserviceorientation,strengtheningourpart-nershipsandallocatingourresourcesinanoptimalfashion,”Mr.Rigbyadded.

Risk Management

Akeytenetofmodernbordermanage-mentistoidentify,assessandmitigateriskstoCanadaasclosetotheirsourceaspossible.Aspartofitsriskmanagementstrategy,theCBSAwillcontinuetomovebordermanagementactivityawayfromthephysicalborder.Onlythoseactivitiesbestperformedattheborderwillbecar-riedoutthere.

Client Service

TheCBSAwillplacearenewedfocusonserviceorientationthroughthedevelop-

mentoftransparentservicestandards.Thiswillenableclearserviceexpecta-tionsforclientsandfacilitatetheflowoftradethroughpredictableservicelev-els.TheCBSArecognizesthateverysin-gleemployeeplaysanimportantroleinhelpingtheAgencyfulfillitsmandate.AswitheveryCustomsorganizationintheworld,CBSAemployeesareconstantlyexposedtorealitiesthatcallforvigilanceandcaution.TheCBSAhasembarkedonanIntegrityandProfessionalStandardsStrategytoensurethatemployeesre-flectandupholdthehigheststandardsofintegrityandprofessionalismintheirpersonalconductandactivitiesonandoffduty.ThissamehighlevelofintegritywillbereflectedinallCBSAprogrammesandsystems.

Aspartofitsfocusonimprovedserviceorientation,theCBSAiscoordinatinga‘singlewindow’initiativeonbehalfoftenfederaldepartmentsandagencies.Thisisakeypriorityforcommercialstakehold-ers.Theinitiativewillstreamlinethecol-lectionofadvancecommercialtradedatabycreatingasingleelectronicinterfaceforbusinessestosubmitinformationtomeetimportandexportregulatoryre-quirements.Itwillalsobenefitthetradecommunitybyincreasingcompetitive-ness,reducingdelaysandimprovingtheclearanceandreleasetimesofgoods.

Partnerships

It is impossible to overstate the im-portanceofcooperationwithpartnersintheintegratedbordermanagementmodel. Historical ties, proximity, asharedborderandlong-standingtradeandeconomicrelationshaveforgeda

Keeping Canada’s nearly 9,000 kilometre-long border open to travel and trade in order to support economic prosperity while protecting Canadians requires highly effective management of border operations. To attain this goal, five years ago the Government of Canada adopted an integrated border management model.



strongbilateralrelationshipbetweenCanada and theUnited States. “OurrapportgrowsstrongereachyearandIfeelcertainthatthedepthofourcoop-erationwillremainunchanged.Wewillcontinue towork togetherandshareknowledgetoensureourpopulationsaresafeandsecurefromborder-related

risksandtofacilitatethelegiti-matetransitofgoodsandpeo-plecrossingoursharedborder,”saidMr.Rigby.

Strategicpartnersarenotlim-itedtotheUnitedStates. Weare redefining and deepeningour cooperation with otherpartners too. The ContainerSecurityInitiative,ourCustomsMutualAssistanceAgreementsaswell as ourmutual recog-nition arrangement with theUnitedStatesarecontributingto reducedelaysandduplica-

tions.Additionally,wewillbelookingforwaystofurtherexpandthebenefitsandmembershipofourtrustedtraderandtravellersprogrammesandensuretheyprovidetangiblebenefits.

TheAgency’skeybusinessresultsenablersinclude:optimalmodernmanagement;

strongpolicycapacityatthecore;consist-entprogrammedeliveryinthefield;andinnovativeuseoftechnologieswillfocusourresourceallocationinanenvironmentoffiscalconstraint.

Conclusion

Overall,theCBSAhasasolidfoundationonwhichtobuildandenormousprogresshasbeenmade.TheAgencyhasintegratedthreelegacyorganizationsamidanunprec-edentedintensificationofthesecurityen-vironment.TodaytheCBSAdeliversmanyinnovativeprogrammestosecureCanada’sborderwhileallowingtheflowoflegitimatetradeandtravel.“TheAgency’sintegratedbordermanagement, enhancedby ourchangeagenda,willmovetheCBSAtowardsthesustainableachievementofourgoals,”concludedStephenRigby.

More informationwww.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

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InJune2007theWCO Councilagreedtothere-quest of the Eu-ropean Commu-nities to join theWCO.Whilenot

yetafullmember,theECaimstobringitsownuniqueexperienceof40yearsofdevelopingaCustomsUniontotheta-bleofstrategicdiscussionsondevelopingCustomsactivityatgloballevel.

Coordinated border management in EuropeAlthough a single Customs area, the 27MemberStates(MS)oftheEuropeanUnion (EU) all have independent anduniquenationaladministrativemodels.Intermsofcoordinatedbordermanage-ment(CBM),thismeansthatsomeMShavechosento‘coordinate’horizontallybyestablishingnationalborderagencies;somehaveseparateauthoritiesthatco-ordinatetheiractivitiesonthebasisofformalagreements;stillothersrelyoncompletelyinformalcoordinationarrange-ments.Thus,thedetailsofCBM,includingthedevelopmentofnationalSingleWin-dowapplications,arestillverymuchinthehandsofEUMS.However,inordertotrulyactasasingleadministration,thesenationaldevelopmentsaremonitoredandguidedatEUleveltoensureharmonizedapproachesandinterfaces.

Inthatvein,Iwouldliketooffersome‘arms-length’thoughtsonthebroaderEuropeanlandscaperelatingtothedevel-opmentofcoordinatedbordermanage-ment(CBM).IwouldliketoshareafewthoughtsaboutthepeculiaritiesofCBMintheEUingeneral,abouttherevolutionthatEuropeanCustomsbordermanage-mentisabouttoundergoon1July2009,andaddsomeprescriptiveviewsandpo-tentiallygloballyapplicableconclusions

CoordinationUndeniably,theEUhashadalotofprac-ticeandalonghistoryofdefining,agree-ingandimplementingstrategiesofinte-

grationandcoordination.Inthisrespect,IbelievethattheEuropeanUnion’shistoryisastrengthandcanbeusedasabench-mark.Withover50yearsofhands-onexperience,Europeansarguablyknowathingortwoaboutintegrationandcoordi-nation.Workingtowardssharedaimsandobjectivesonthebasisofcommonlegisla-tion,Europehasbeenandremainsquiteauniquetestlaboratoryforcoordinatedbordermanagement.Thisiscertainlyourstrength. EU bordersTheflipsideofthecoinoftheEuropeanin-tegrationexperience,however,isthattheEU’sbordershavedevelopedinaseeminglyuncoordinatedwayacrosspolicyareas.Al-thoughtheresultofhistoricalandpoliticalreasons,itcouldunderstandablybeconsid-eredvaguelyironicthatwhiletheEuropeancontinenthasintegratedandremovedob-stacleafterobstacletothefreecirculationofpeople,goods,servicesandmoneywithinitsborders,itsexternalbordershavedevel-opedintoanincreasinglycomplexset.

ThebordersoftheEUCustomsterritory,asdefinedbycommunityCustomslegis-lationcorrespondtoagreatextenttothelayman'sunderstandingof‘EUborders'.However,duetohistoricalreasons,theCustomsterritoryisnotfullyequivalenttothoseofthephysicalEUterritoryassuch.Moresignificantlystill,thebordersapplicabletothemovementofpeople,i.e.thatoftheSchengenArea,include25Eu-ropeancountries,includingthreenon-EUcountries(Iceland,NorwayandSwitzer-land)andexcludefiveEUmemberseitherthroughopt-out(IrelandandtheUK)ortransitionalperiodsforimplementation(Bulgaria,CyprusandRomania).

Inpracticethismeansthatdifferentau-thoritiesactingonthebasisofdifferentEClegislationarepreoccupiedwiththemanagementofdifferentborders.AsthelogisticsofmostEuropeanairportseasilyillustrates,beingphysicallyrestrainedtodifferentlocationssetsparticularparam-etersonwhat‘coordination’canmeanin

practice,andcertainlyrequiresahighlevelofcreativityandpragmatismindefiningacoordinatedapproachtobordermanage-ment.Theexampleofairportsisalsoacaseinpointastowhy,whendiscussingCBM,weneedtoconsidertheconceptbymodeoftransport–aCBMapproachformaritimetrafficwillnotnecessarilybeap-plicableforlandborders,andviceversa.

ManagementSowhatexactlydowemeanandexpectfromthe termborder ‘management’?ECCustomsandimmigrationlegislationrespectivelydefine‘control’and‘bordercontrols’-yetthereisverylittleintheprescriptivesenseaboutwider‘manage-ment’ofborders.Infact,thecontentof‘managingborders’willdifferdependingontheroleandtasksoftheauthorityinquestion.Transportauthorities(e.g.portandairportauthorities),borderguards,Customsofficialsandcriminalinvestiga-torswillengageindifferentactivitieswithrespecttobordermanagement.

Inabroadsense,however,borderman-agementcouldbethoughttoencompassthefollowingtypesofactivityatvariousmomentsintheprocessofcrossingtheborder:exantecollectionofinforma-tion(fromthetradeandelsewhere);as-sessmentofrisksassociatedwithensur-ingcorrectandcompliantcross-bordermovementofgoods,persons,animals,modesoftransport;processingandcon-trollingofthemovementonthespotforsecurity/safetypurposes;andprocess-ingaCustomsdeclarationforCustomsclearancepurposes,afterthearrivalofthegoodsandchecksexpostethattherequirementshavebeenfulfilled.

Eachofthesemanagementelementscanbedissected,analysedandprescribedseparately–coordinatedinformationcol-lectionforclearancepurposescouldim-plyanelectronicCustomsSingleWindowportalforsubmittingdatatoauthoritieswhoneverneedmeeteachotherphysi-cally,whereascoordinatedcontrolswouldnecessitate more organisational and

Border management in the European Union



operationalcollaborationbetweenau-thoritiesonthespot.

Roles and responsibilities Indistinguishingamongauthoritiesandtheirrespectiveroles,itisusefultoex-aminethetimelineassociatedwiththebordermanagementprocess,identifyatwhichpointeachactorisconcerned,andconsequentlyestablishwhattheirrespec-tiverolesare.FromaCustomsclearanceperspectivetherearethreemainpointsintime:thepre-arrivalphase;thearrivalphasewhengoodsarepresented;andtheclearancephase.

Byplacingauthoritiesinthetime-frameoftheirintervention,whetheritisrelatedtogoods,passengers,ormodesoftransport,theirrespectiverolesbecomemoreapparent;forexample,transportauthoritiesaremainlyinvolvedinpre-arrivalandthecollectionanddisseminationofinformation.Theyarethefirstonestoreceiveinformationonwhateverisarriving,andcanprovideavaluableco-ordinationfunctionbydisseminatingthatinformationtootherauthorities.

CurrentlyinEurope,coordinatedbordermanagementasweunderstanditfromtheCustomsperspectivestartsatthepresentationofgoodsandismostrel-evanttotheclearancephase.Thisisthetraditionalareawherecustomshavethebestaccesstoinformationandthebroad-estoverview,andarebestplacedtoputintoplacecoordinationmechanismssuchasSingleWindowdatasubmissionappli-cations.

The revolution aheadThisiswheremydescriptiveofCBMinEuropeturnsincreasinglyreflective.On1July2009,theso-called‘securityamend-ment’oftheEUCustomscodewillbeimplementedasCustomsbeginthecol-lectionofelectronicpre-arrivalandpre-

departureinformationonallgoodsen-teringandexitingtheEU.FromtheCBM/Customsperspective, thismeans thatCustomswillexpanditshorizonsfromitstraditionaloperatingsphereofclearancetothatofthepre-arrivalsphere.Inmanyways,includingintermsofriskanalysiscarriedoutbyCustoms,thiswillberevo-lutionary.Yet,asgreatachangeasthisrepresents,weshouldbecarefulaboutinterpretingthesenewcircumstancesintonewroles–thereisnoapriorireasonwhyCustomsshouldtakeacentralrolewithrespecttocoordinationofpre-arrivalborderman-agement.Withtheexceptionoftheen-

trysummarydeclaration,thepre-arrivalphaseisstillnotsufficientlycoveredbycustomslegislationaimingatproceduraland ITrequirementswhileextensivelydocumentedfor instancebythe IMO-FALorIATA.Thus,concretely,discussionsaboutthescopeofthe'Customs'SingleWindowwillstillremainwithinthetradi-tionalareaofCustomsoperations,whereCustomsundoubtedlyisthebestplacedasthesoleauthorityreceivinginforma-tiononallgoodscrossingtheborder.

Atthesametime,effortsmightbemadetofollowthedevelopmentintheothertwoareasofcross-bordermovementofpersonsandmeansoftransporttobeabletoultimatelyinterconnectallsystemsal-readyatthepre-arrivalstage.Thecomple-mentaryinformationaboutpeopleand/ortransportmovementsmightforinstanceprovetobecrucialforanaccurateassess-mentoftheriskprofileofcargo.

One size does not fit allInEuropeitisclearthatthereisaneedtoatleastrethinktherolesandresponsibili-tiesassociatedwithbordermanagement–muchdialoguewillbeneededamongstakeholdersatnationalandregionallevelonhowcoordinationofbordermanage-mentcanbeimproved.Whatisclearisthatnoonesizewillfitall–CBMneedstoremainasetofsolutions,notasinglemodel across countries andmodesoftransport.ITwillbeanimportantenablerforthefuture,butitshouldnotbeseenasthesinglefactorofsuccessofbetterCBM.

Let’s start with the benefits A final but quite fundamentalthoughtthatIwishtoshareonco-ordinatedbordermanagementisaverygeneralone:coordinatedbor-dermanagement,inallitsuses,isoftenqualifiedasaseriesofdiffer-entconceptualdefinitionsinwhicheveryauthorityinvolvedtendstoimagineitselfatthecentreofthe

concept.Intheabsenceofwisewordstoconsolidatethesedefinitions,Iwouldpro-posetoleavetheissueofdefinitionsasideandaskthefollowingquestion:whatben-efitscancoordinatedbordermanagementprovidetoallstakeholders,andhowbestcanweachievethesebenefits?CertainlythisistheapproachIwouldadvocateforEUCustomsadministrationsandtheirEu-ropeancounterpartauthorities.

AsanintegralpartoftheWCOfamily,theEChasauniqueopportunitytoshareexperiences,andlookforbestpracticesglobally.Iamconvincedthatindevelop-ingmodelsandmethodsforbettercoor-dinatedbordermanagement,thisglobaldialoguewillbeakeycontributortooursuccess.

More information http ://ec.europa.eu/taxation_cus-toms/taxation/index_en.htm

RobertVerruewastheDirectorGeneraloftheEuropeanCommission’sDirectorate-GeneralforTaxationandCustomsUnioninBrussels,until31May2009.

“I am convinced that in developing models and methods for better

coordinated border management, this global dialogue will be a key

contributor to our success”



ThebreakdownofformerYugoslaviain1992andthesubsequentestablish-

mentof6newstatesresultedinmorethan5000kmofnewinternationalbor-dersintheWesternBalkans.Toprovideabasisforconsistentimplementationofbordermanagement-relatedactivitiesintheWesternBalkans,theEuropeanCom-mission(EC)decidedtointroducethecon-ceptofintegratedbordermanagement(IBM).TosupportitsIBMconcept,theECestablished‘GuidelinesforIntegratedBor-derManagementintheWesternBalkans’inOctober2004.TheseGuidelineswerelateramendedin2007.

TheGuidelinesdefinetheECIBMcon-ceptfortheWesternBalkansasfollows:“IBMcoverscoordinationandcoopera-tionamongalltherelevantauthoritiesandagenciesinvolvedinbordersecurityandtrade facilitationtoestablishef-fective,efficientandintegratedborder

managementsystems,inordertoreachthecommongoalofopen,butcontrolledandsecureborders”.

Efficientbordermanagementandbor-dersafetyareofvitalimportancetotheRegionandEuropeasawholeandareanimportantelementoftheStabilizationandAssociationProcess(SAP)whichleadsthecountriesoftheRegiontowardsEuropeanintegration.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s IBM project

GiventhatthestrategicgoalofBosniaandHerzegovina(ISOcountrycode‘BA’)istojointheEuropeanUnion,thereisaneedtointroduceIBMasthecountryhasa1665kmlongborder.

Main national playersBorderprotectionandcross-bordercon-trolactivitiesinBAinvolvethefollowingauthorities:

•theBorderPolice

•the IndirectTaxationAuthority (ITA)which includestheadministrationofCustoms

•theStateVeterinaryOffice(SVO)

•Authoritiesresponsibleforveterinaryinspectionsattheentity-level

•theStateAdministrationforPlantHealthProtection

•Phyto-sanitaryInspectoratesattheenti-ty-levelandintheBrčkoDistrict*

•EntityandBrčkoDistrict-levelinspec-tionsatbordercrossingpoints,inlandCustomsstationsandCustomsstationsinrespectofphyto-sanitary,marketandsanitarymatters

* The Brčko District in northeastern BA is a self-governing, entity-neutral, administra-tive unit under the sovereignty of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, having formally been part of both the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina which are two entities of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

TheIBMconceptalsoimpliescooperationbetweentheabove-mentionedauthori-tiesandstateinstitutionsdealingwithborderandcross-borderactivities.

Implementation progress and challenges

Todate,BAhascontinuedtomakeprogressintheareaofbordercontrol.Ithasratifiedagreementsonbordercrossingpointswithneighbouringcountries,aswellasagree-mentsonlocalbordertraffic.Thenumberofjointtrainingactivitiesandjointopera-tionsattheborderhasalsoincreased.

ArevisedIBMStrategyforBAwasadoptedinJuly2008.TheStrategy,andtheActionPlanthatformsanintegralpartoftheStrat-egy,definethecentralcoordinatingroleforbordermanagementissuesandcontainafinancialimplementationframework.TheDecisionestablishingaStateIBMCom-mission,inchargeofIBMcoordinationandimplementationoftheIBMStrategy,wasadoptedinJuly2008.

BAstillhasanumberofunresolvedbor-derdemarcationissueswhichcontinuetoadverselyaffectcontroloflandbordersorwhatisknownasthe“green”border.ThisledtoadoptioninJune2008ofthedeci-siontoestablishtheStateCommissionfortheBordersofBosniaandHerzegovina,withresponsibilityfortheidentificationandde-marcationoftheborderline.

AMemorandumofUnderstanding(MOU)on the establishmentof the IBM JointAnalysisCentrewassignedon22December2008betweentheinstitutionsinvolvedintheIBMproject,namely,theMinistryofSe-curity,theBorderPolice,theIndirectTaxa-tionAuthority,theStateVeterinaryOffice,theStatePlantHealthProtectionAgency,andtheServiceforForeignAffairs.ThisMOUenablesfastandefficientexchangeofinformationtotakeplace.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The EC integrated border management project



AlthoughBAhasmadeoverallprogressintheareaofbordermanagement,additionaleffortsareneeded,particularlywithrespecttothefurtherenhancementofintra-serv-ice,interagencyandinternationalcoop-eration–thethreepillarsofIBM.Furtherprogressisneededonthefollowingissues:establishmentofacompetentauthorityatBAlevelformanagingthebordercross-ingpoints;adoptionofthelawonbordercontrol;demarcationandidentificationoftheBAborder;blockingillegalcrossingsoftheborderlinewithMontenegroandSerbia;andmoreharmonizationofbordermanage-ment-relatedlegislationwiththeEUAcquis(atermusedinEUlawtorefertothetotalbodyofEUlawaccumulatedthusfar).

Funding assistance

TheEChasinvestedsignificantfundinginsupportoftheestablishmentoftheIBMconceptinBA,includingsupportforthedevelopmentandadoptionoftheBANationalIBMStrategy.TheECalsosupportsfurtherimplementationoftheIBMStrategyandactionsderivingfromtherelatedActionPlan.ECfinancialas-sistanceamountsto34millionEuroandincludestheconstructionofadequateandfunctionalbordercrossingpointsatRaca(MunicipalityBijeljina–co-fi-nancedwiththeWorldBank;completedinApril2005),Kamensko(MunicipalityTomislavgrad;completedinNovember2006),Karakaj(MunicipalityZvornik-

completedinAugust2005),Gradina-Jasenovac(Munici-palityKozarskaDubica;com-pletedinJanuary2007),andBosanskiSamac(Municipal-ityDomaljevac–completedinJuly2008).

Furthermore,theEChasalsoprovidedassistanceinblock-ing illegal border crossingpointsontheBAborderlinewiththeRepublicofCroatia.This has comprised the as-sessmentofthelocations,thedevelop-mentofmethodology,andthephysicalwork(erectionofbarriers,installationoframps,etc).Substantialtechnicalassist-ancehasalsobeenprovidedwithregardstothe implementationofthenationalIBMStrategywhosemaindeliverableshaveincludedtherevisedIBMStrategyandActionPlan(adoptedinJuly2008)andtheestablishmentoftheIBMJointAnalysisCentre(operationalasofFebru-ary2009).

Also,theEChassupportedtheimplemen-tationoftheBAIBMStrategybystrength-ening the institutions involved in IBM,throughtechnicalassistance,theprovisionofequipment,andtwinningassistancewithMemberStates’partners.FurthertwinningassistanceisplannedthatwillcontinuetofocusonstrengtheningthethreepillarsofIBM(intra-service,interagencyandinter-

nationalcooperation)andaligningrelatedlegislationtotheEUAcquis.

EC regional support

ECassistancehasincludedsupportforthecoordinationofIBMStrategiesforcountriesintheRegion,namely,Albania,BA,Croatia,theFormerYugoslavRepublicofMacedonia(FYROM),Montenegro,andSerbia.Kosovo,administeredbyTheUnitedNationsInterimAdministrationMissioninKosovo,wasrep-resentedbutwiththestatusofanobserver.ThissupportfocusedonthedevelopmentandupdatingofnationalIBMstrategiestoensurethattheyarecoherentandeffectivelycoordinatedonaregionallevel,tradefacilita-tion,andbordercontrol.

More [email protected] www.europa.ba

An agency’s viewpoint on integrated border management

Tomeettherequirementsforeventu-alEuropeanintegration,Bosniaand

Herzegovina(BA)establishedanIndi-rectTaxationAuthority(ITA)in2003bymergingtheformerCustomsadminis-trationsandthetaxadministration.ThelegislationestablishingtheITAcreatedasingleCustomsserviceresponsibleforoperationscoveringtheentirecountrywhichcorrespondstotheofficialbor-dersofBosniaandHerzegovina.Incom-parison,Customspreviouslyoperatedatthreelevelsfallingwithinthecom-

petenciesoftheentitiesandtheBrčkoDistrict.

IBM Strategy

AsaresultoftheactivitiesrelatedtoEUac-cession,in2005theBACouncilofMinistersadoptedtheintegratedbordermanagement(IBM)Strategy.AnamendedStrategyandActionPlanforIBMimplementationwasadoptedinJuly2008,bothofwhichhavebeenentirelyalignedwiththeEuropeanCommission’s (EC)Guidelinesondraft-

ingIBMstrategiesfortheWesternBalkancountriesfortheperiod2004/2007.TheEC,otherinternationalorganizationsandmanyEUmemberstateshavewholeheartedlyrenderedassistancetotheBAIBMproject.

Inter-agency cooperation

Inter-agencycooperation isoneof thepillarsofIBMandshould,throughcoor-dinatedandjointactivitiesoftheservicesinvolved,provideforfasterflowofcross-bordertraffic,enhancedbordersecurity,



theBorderPoliceandtheVeterinaryOffice(thedraftingofanagreementonmutualcooperationbetweenallborderservicesinvolvedintheIBMprojectisunderway);andtheanalysisofinfrastructure,equip-mentandITsupport.

Theanalysisrevealedthat:

•Theinfrastructureatthemajorityofbor-dercrossingpointsdidnotsatisfycertainstandardsrelatedtothecontrolofcom-mercialandpassengertraffic,forexampleseparatingvehiclescarryinggoodsorpas-sengersintoseparatewaitinglanes

•Theborderservicesdidnothaveproperequipmentattheirdisposalthatwouldallowthemtoperformtheiractivitiesatbordercrossingpointsefficiently

•ITsupportwasinsufficientforimplement-ingtheprocedures,asbordercrossingpointswerenotconnectedthroughafastcommunicationnetworkandthisposedaproblemforproperITsupporttoborderservices

•Therewereproblemswith thebordercrossingpointsrelatingtomanagementandmaintenance issuesas theborderinfrastructureisownedbydifferentserv-ices(AdraftLawonanAgencyforBorder

CrossingPointsManagementhasbeenpreparedforthepurposeofestablishingaseparateservicethatwoulddealwithITinfrastructuremaintenance,purchaseandmaintenanceofsharedequipmentandfa-cilitiesand,ingeneral,withthemanage-mentofthebordercrossingpoints)

•Therewasaneedforenhancedcoopera-tionbetweentheservicesatbordercross-ingpoints.

A project in progressInacknowledgingthevarietyandcomplex-ityoftasksperformedattheborder,theconsiderablenumberofparticipantsin-volved,thenecessityforcloserintra-serv-icecooperation,inter-servicecooperationaswellascooperationattheinternationallevel,hugediscrepanciesaswellasotheraggravatingcircumstancesdostillexistbetweenthecurrentanddesiredstateofaffairs.AstheseissuesimpactonthecomplexityandcomprehensivenessoftheIBMproject,itisclearthatduringtheperiodahead,theIBMprojectwillremainoneofthemostimportantprojectsforthebordersecurityservicesinBosniaandHerzegovina.

More Information [email protected] www.uino.ba

moreefficientcombatingofcross-bordercrime,betterprotectionoflife,healthandpropertyofcitizens,andmoreefficientprotectionandcontrolofthehealthstatusofanimals,plantsandtheenvironment

CertaincriticalactivitieswereundertakeninBAtoensurebetterinter-agencycoop-eration:theestablishmentofaJointRiskAnalysisCentreandLocalRiskAnalysisCentrewithintheITAinwhichalloffic-ersfromallservicesinvolvedintheIBMprojectparticipate(trainingfortheofficersaswellastheinstallationofadatabaseisunderway);theconclusionofagreementsonmutualcooperationbetweentheITAandtheBorderPolice,betweentheITAandtheVeterinaryOfficeandbetween



A personal trade perspective on cooperative border management

Peoplecourageousenoughtomovethingsmade,grownorminedinone

countrytodestinationsinanotherarewellawareofthehazardsandhold-upsofinterveningnationalfrontierswhereCustomsandotherofficialagenciesofwidelydifferingdegreesofefficiency,alwayswantinformationandalltooof-tenmoney.Sometimespartofthiswork-load–forexamplequarantineornoxiouswastecontrol–isbornedirectlybyotherspecialistgovernmentdepartmentsbutCustomsareveryoftencalledontoactasenforcersofwhatare,infact,other agencies’ regulatoryrights.Thisdelegationofinitialfrontier controls toCustomshasalwaysbeenaconvenienceforcommercialoperatorsandisnowacquiringpatentextrameritbecauseoftheways inwhichitcanfocusandco-ordinateanincreasinglyurgenttaskofreviewandmodernisation.OverthepasthalfcenturytheWorldCus-tomsOrganisation(WCO)hasbeenen-gagedinalongandoftentediousprocessofsimplifyingandstandardizingtheproce-

duresassociatedwiththemanifoldfrontiertasksoflevyingand

collectingdutiesandtaxes,enforcingtradepoliciesandprotectingpeople,animals,plants,intellectualproperty,culturalher-itageandnowtheenvironment.ManyofthesetaskshavetobecarriedoutbyCus-tomsforothergovernmentdepartmentsthatcanandoftendoby-passthesortoftechnicaladvancesthatCustomsareap-plyingtotheirowncoreresponsibilitiessuchasraisingrevenue.SotheWCOfinds

thatmanypotentialreformsstopshortofthenumerousofficialfrontierinterven-tionswhereitsmembersarejustexecu-tiveagentswithoutanyinfluenceovertheoriginorlegalcontentofwhattradersseeasbasically‘Customs’procedures.

Thiscompositeandcomplicatedfacilita-tiontaskmustalsotakeaccountofsomeverylargeandpowerfulshiftsandshovesinprevailingpoliticalcircumstances.Thecontributiontothegeneralbenefitandwell-beingofsteadilyexpandingglobaltradehasbeenstrikinglydemonstratedbyremarkablesustainedimprovementsinnational incomesand living stand-ardsin,forexample,Brazil,China,India,SingaporeandSouthKorea.Takenbythemselves,theymakeaveryconvincingcaseforrapidreductionofanyremainingconstraintsfromover-complexfrontiercontrols.

Unfortunately,however,thecatastrophiceventsof9/11havequiteunderstandablyresultedintheadoptionofnew,seriouslyconstrainingfrontiercrossingformalitiesbytheUSA,theEuropeanUnionandothermajortradingeconomies.Allattemptstoreconcilefacilitationwithsecurityinthe

faceofthesecountervailingtrendsandregulatoryinfluencesneedtotakeaccountofandexploitaconstantlyintensifyingsetoftechnicalchangesinwaysinwhichtheessentialinformationthatmanagesthein-ternationaltransactionfromorigintodes-tinationhastobegenerated,exchanged,recordedandprocessed.

BusinesshassetapacethatCustomshavehadnooptionbuttofollow.Therapidadvancefrommassiveandunaffordable computers to thecheapPCandlaptop,andthearriv-aloftheinternetandsatellitecom-municationshaveallcombinedtotransformthewayinwhichtradeandtransportoperate,resultingincorrespondingimprovementsinCustomsresourcesandtech-niques. It is important tonote,however,thatsuchadjustments

haveoperatedatdifferentratesandwithdifferentsensesofurgencyinotherbordercontrolagencies.Customsarethereforeal-mostuniqueinhavingaglobalrepresenta-tiveandconsultativebody–theWCO–tostimulate,guideandassistnecessaryop-erationaladjustments.Mostotherofficialborderagenciesarecompletelyisolatedintheirnationalobligationsandresponses.

Alltheseconsiderationssetanurgentcaseandcomplicatedbackgroundforaradical,fullyinternationalsimplificationandhar-monizationoffrontiercontrolsystems.No-onewillwanttotryandstandardizethesubstantiveregulatorybackgroundswhichwill always reflectdifferentna-tionalneedsandresourcesbuttherecanandshouldbeamajorefforttorationalisethemeansbywhichtheyaregiveneffect–basicallythestipulation,collectionandanalysisof relevant informationabouttheconsignmentandparticipantsineachtransaction.Theoverallobjectivewouldbetogivetradetheoperationalboonofreliably rapidmovementof legitimateconsignmentsthroughallofficialcontrolsatallnationalfrontiers.Nothingcouldbetimelier,astheWCOseekstoalerttheG20andotherpolicy-makerstotheurgentneed

John Raven hasbeen involved ininternationaltradeissues for60plusyears havingheldmany senior and

leadingexecutivepositionsduringthistime.HisrelationshipwiththeWCOstretchesover36yearsandinhiscurrentcapacityasarep-resentativeofTheInternationalAirCargoAssociation(TIACA);JohnisoftenseenatvariousWCOmeetingswherehemakesnobonesaboutairinghisviewsonarangeofissuesthatimpactontheinternationalCus-toms,tradeandbusinesscommunities.Thisarticlereflectshispersonalviews.

“Customs are therefore almost unique in having a global representative and

consultative body – the WCO – to stimulate, guide and assist necessary

operational adjustments”



toenlistawiderangeofnewandimprovedCustomstechniquesintheall-importanttaskofstimulatingandacceleratingglobaltradere-expansion.

TheWCOhasacentral,indispensablerole:asaglobalvoiceforaSingleWindow/Co-operativeBorderManagementconcept;asacatalysttobringaboutstrategicagree-mentonstandardpracticesandinstru-mentswithotherinterestsabletoexerciseinternationalinfluence,suchastheUN/ECEDangerousGoodsWorkingParty;andasapartnerwithUNCITRAL,inalongbutvitaltaskofresearchandanalysistoestab-lishlegalneedsandconsequences.Italsohas,andisconstantlyextending,ahighlyrelevanttechnicaltoolkit.

Inpractice,however,reviewandreformhastostartandsucceedinindividualcountries.Canadahasalreadybeguntoexamineandbringnewsimplicitiestoitsownsetofbor-dercontrolswhich,asahighlydevelopedindustrialeconomyandthekeytradingpartneroftheUSA,areprobablyamongthemostcomplexanywhere.TheUKisalsolookingatitsownfrontierarrange-mentsandthishasspecialimportanceinthecontextofEUmembership.ASEANreachedformalagreementin2005toen-courageandassistnationalSingleWindowsinallmemberstates,whilstSingaporewithaSingleWindowlargelyinplacethroughitswell-establishedcentraldataprocessingTradeNetsystemisalsoaleadingelementintheAPECSingleWindowproject.

Experiencesofarsuggeststhattheall-im-portantinitialmovetowardsanationalSingleWindowcancomefromseveraldirections.Agovernmentmaysettheinter-agencycoop-erativewheelsinmotionbecauseitispressedbyitsbusinesscommunityorpersuadedbyitsCustomsadministrationorinfluencedthroughmembershipofAPEC,ASEAN,theEUorotherregionalgroupings.Iftheinitia-tiveislefttoCustomstheymaybestimu-latedbybusinessinterest,participationinregionalgroupingprojectsorattendanceatrelevantWCOmeetings.Itisveryunlikelytocomefromanyotherfrontiercontrolagencybecausemanyofthemareonlyinterestedintherelativelyfewconsignmentsthathavecharacteristicsbringingthemwithintheirparticularcontrolremit.

HowcanCustomsbestopenupessentialconsultationwithotherdepartmentalin-terests?TheworstpossiblerouteliesthroughanyattemptthatseemstoaimathierarchicalsuperiorityorcouldbeinterpretedtoaidCustoms’annexationofsuchsubstantivecontrolfunctionsasquarantine,veterinary,nuclearsubstancesordangerousgoodsin-spections.ItisthereforecrucialthattheSingleWindowmechanismbepresentedandseenasasetofsubsidiaryservices,usingCustomsresourcesandskillstohelpotheragenciesofferbettercontinuedper-formanceoftheirexistingundiminishedremits.Thesearegood reasons tousethecompletely innocuousterm‘SingleWindow’or‘cooperative’ratherthan‘co-ordinated’bordermanagement.

Thebestpossiblecooperativetin-openerisuniqueCustomsaccesstoandunder-standingofthepracticalmeansofprovid-ingdatacapture,storageandprocessingintheirdailyoperationalrelationshiptoanenormousrangeofcommercialresourcesandrequirements.TheWCODataMod-el,standardCustomsmessages,andtheUniqueConsignmentReference(theUCR)arebasicdatahandlingtools.Theability,throughtheWCO,toaccessanddrawonothernationalSingleWindowexperiencesisafurtherveryrareadvantage.Atalaterstageofany individualSingleWindowproject,thecombinedofficialandcom-mercialbenefitsofmutual recognitionarrangementswithothertradingpartnerstateswillbringCustomsagaintotheena-blingforebecausetheywillbeabletodrawontherelevantprovisionsoftheWCOSAFEFrameworkofStandardsunderwrit-tenbymorethan155WCOmemberad-ministrations.

Theadvantagesof cooperativebordermanagementsystems,focusedandrely-

ingonCustomsdatahandlingexperienceandresourcesgodeepintothecoreneedsofbothtradeandgovernment;thetradewillgainimmediaterelieffromanorderlyassemblyofpreviouslydisparatecontrols,toasinglecomprehensiveimportorexportcontrolprocedure,usingrelevantfamiliarWCOITstandards,withtheprospectofevengreatersimplicityfrommutualrec-ognitionSingleWindowagreements.Gov-ernmentswillgainmoreefficientarrange-mentstooptimizeessentialcontrolswhileofferingimportantnewsimplicitiestotheirbusinesspartners.Associatedcontrolagen-cieswillhavenew,up-to-dateandrapidmeansoffulfillingtheirownresponsibili-ties,withpossibilitiesofadditionalfuturegainfrommutualrecognitionagreementswiththeircounterparts inothercoun-tries.CustomswillhavenewjustificationsfortheirinvestmentsinITtechnology,anenlargedintakeoftransactiondata,someofwhichcouldbehelpfulforsecurityandotherrisk-managementapplications,andanenhanceddepartmentalstatusattheborderwithoutanycauseforresentmentbyanyothercooperatingagency.

Tradewillfinditselfemergingfromthetighteninggripofintensifiedregulationwithnewandwidersimplicities. Itwillescapeatlastfromthehazardsoffron-tiersituations inwhichgoodscanpassthroughautomatedCustomsproceduresrapidlyandreliablyonlytobeblockedbytheprocessingofapieceofaccompany-ingpaperdemandedbysomeotherlessefficientfrontieragency.Mostimportantofall–foreveryoneconcerned–isthatthefinalbuildingblockswillbeinplacetoprovideglobaltradeandthegovernmentsthatdependon itwithnewproceduralfrontiers,where riskmanagementwillenjoyandemploymoderndatacapture,processingandrecordingresources,andalllegitimateconsignmentswillpassexport,importandtransitformalitiesonthebasisofasinglesubmissionofstandardminimalcontroldata.


“The WCO Data Model, standard Customs messages, and the

Unique Consignment Reference (the UCR) are basic data handling

tools”



TheAprileditionoftheWorldCustomsJournalhasasitsthemetheuseofin-

formationandcommunicationstechnol-ogyinthecross-borderenvironment,andfeaturesanumberofarticlesthatexaminethetopicfromtheperspectiveofcoordi-natedbordermanagement

Thefollowingisabriefprécisofselectedarticles.

Inhisarticle“ICTandtheNewGlobalIn-vestmentParadigm:ChallengestoCross-Border Trade and Investment”, IBM’sAndrew Jacksonidentifies“horizontal,intergovernmentalnetworksamongtheworld’sregulators”asakeyfacilitatorinhelpingtoensureglobalstability.Indoingso,hepointstotheWCOSAFEFrame-workofStandardsasastepintherightdirection,butwarnsthat“theongoingchallenge…istoensurethathigh levelcommitmentsmorphintoconcreteactionattheregionalandcountrylevelasthisiswherethe‘rubberhitstheroad’inrespecttoensuringmaterialoutcomesforindus-tryandgovernmentsalike”.Indiscussingglobaldevelopments,MrJacksonpointstotheneedforindividuals,organisationsandgovernmentstocarefullyconsiderhowtheymaybestcollaborateintheuseoftechnologyinordertoachievetheirdesiredoutcomes.

TheUniversity of Canberra’s AdjunctProfessor,Steve Holloway, inhisarti-cle“Leveraginge-Customs-TheImpor-tanceofInteroperability”analysesthee-Customsphenomenonandtheobsta-clestoitsexpansionacrossborders.His

analysisdrawsonstudiesthathavefoundthattheinterop-erabilityofe-commercelegalframeworksamongcountriesremains low, even amongcountries thathaveadoptedinternationalstandards.Theinfluenceofinternationalor-ganizationsandregionalinitia-tivesontheencouragementofcooperationamongcountriesisdiscussedandProfHolloway

arguesthatthefullbenefitsofICTandelectroniccommerceareunlikelytobeachieveduntilthereisuniformadoptionoradaptationofnationalpoliciesandle-galframeworksthatenableandlegitimizetheinteroperableuseofICTinitsnationalandinternationalaspects.

Whilefocussingonmoreeffectiveauto-mateddatamanagement,David Hesketh fromHMRevenue and Customs ad-dressestheneedforgloballynetworkedCustomsand integratedborderman-agement. This,hepointsout, isfullyconsistentwiththeWCO’sperceptionofCustomsinthe21stcentury,whichincludesstrengthenedcooperationbe-tweenCustomsadministrations,busi-nesses and other government agen-cies. MrHeskethhasprovidedaverycompellingarticle thatexaminesthewayinwhichseamlesselectronicdataand logisticspipelinesare serving toshiftthefocusofCustomsfromimportdeclarationstothestartofcommercialtransactions.Inhisarticle,hearguesthecaseforaradicalre-assessmentoftheCustomsbusinessmodelbyshiftingtheemphasis“fromthepointofimpor-tationtoasfarupstreaminthesupplychainaspossible”.DrawingontheUKCustomsandInternationalComplianceStrategy,hecommentsthat“throughtechnologyandpartnershipsourcontrolandmonitoringcanbefarmoreinte-grated,virtual,broadandglobal”.

Anotherparticularlyinterestingarticle,contributedby Alan LongfromMaritimeCargoProcessingPlc,discusseskeyele-

mentsofcoordinatedbordermanagementfromtheperspectiveoftheinternationaltradingcommunity.InexaminingthekeyattributesofPortCommunitySystems(PCS),MrLongidentifiestheconsiderabledegreeofcooperationandcoordinationthathasresultedintheinternationallyacclaimedDestin8Sys-tem.Heobservesthat,despite the obviousimprovements in theBusiness-to-Customs

andCustoms-toBusinessareas,anotablebenefitisthewayinwhichthePCShas“encourageddatatransferandthesinglesubmissionofdataformultiple-useintheBusiness-to-Businessareaofportopera-tions”.ThelessonslearnedfromtheDes-tin8Systemexperiencetranslatedirectlytothosegovernmentagenciesinvolvedinbordermanagementand,asnotedbyMrLong,“Governmentsintendingtodevelop‘singlewindows’would…dowelltolookattheexperiencesofPCSproviderswhendoingso,ortheyruntheriskofprovidingsystemsthatdonotfullymeettheneedsoftheircustomers”.

TheWorldCustomsJournalcanbeac-cessedonlinefreeofcharge.

More informationwww.worldcustomsjournal.org

ICT in the cross-border environment

Professor David Widdowson, from the University of Canberra, is the Editor-in-Ch ie f of the World Customs Journal, which provides academics, industry researchers, research students and Customs professionals with an opportunity to share and draw upon research, academic commentary and practi-cal insights to enhance its readers’ knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the roles and respon-sibilities of Customs.



The WCO Data Model: an enabler for coordinated border management

AscountriesdevelopedCustomsforms,requirements,andautomatedsystems

overtheyears,therewaslittlecoordinationandconsultationamongthem.Asaresult,therearethousandsofdataelements,hun-dredsofdifferentCustomsforms,andasmanydifferentCustomssystemsasthereareCustomsadministrations.Thislackofcoordinationhascreatedaconfusingandconfoundingenvironment.Thesedifferentrequirementsarerifewithredundancyandduplicationandareexpensivetomaintainandoperate.Governmentscreatedthisproblem;governmentscancorrectthissitu-ation–byusingtheWCODataModel.

Customsdataharmonizationandstandardi-zationbeganwiththeG-7.Thefinancemin-istersoftheworld’ssevenlargesteconomiesinitiatedCustomsdatastandardizationandmadesignificantprogress,butmorehadtobedone.Becauseofthecomplexityoftheissue,thescopeoftheG7effortwaslim-itedtobasicCustomsprocesses.TheWCO

participatedintheG7effortandrecognizedtheneedforamorecomprehensivedataset.AstheinternationalforumforCus-toms’administrations,theWCOwastheidealorganizationtocontinuethisstand-ardization.TheWCOwouldgiveallmem-berCustoms’administrations,regardlessofthesizeoftheireconomy,theopportunitytoparticipateandwouldopenthestand-ardizationprocesstothemanybusinessandtradeorganizationsthatparticipateinWCOactivities.

Version1oftheWCOCustomsDataModelwasissuedin2002.TheWCOSecretariatformedtheDataModelProjectTeam(DMPT)undertheInformationManagementSub-Committee(IMSC)tocontinuethestand-ardizationwork.WCOMembersparticipatingintheDMPTwereaskedtoanalyzetheirCustoms’require-mentsandidentifyadditionalinformation

thathadtobeadd-edtothemorero-bustWCOCustomsData Model. In2005,Version2oftheWCOCustomsDataModelwasre-leased.ThisversionincludedCustomsandtransportationdataforreleaseofgoodsat thebor-der.

As theWCOwasworkingonVersion2, the “whole-of-governmentcross-bordersinglewin-dow”conceptwasgaining momen-tum.Suchasinglewindowisthegov-

ernmentsingleentrypointforthesubmis-sionofinternationalstandardizeddataandmessagesforimport,export,andtransitofgoods,conveyances,equipment,andcrew.TheWCOrecognizedthesignificanceofthesinglewindowandrealizedthattherewasnoforumfordevelopingawhole-of-govern-mentsetofdata.WCOMembersdecidedtofillthisgapandagreedtoincludesinglewin-dowrequirementsintheDataModel.ThustheWCOCustomsDataModelbecametheWCODataModel.

Thisongoingstandardizationworkneces-sarilyledtoaVersion3oftheWCODataModel.ThisversionincludesrequirementsforCustoms,Agriculture,FoodSafety,Ma-rineSafety,Statistics,Immigration(crew)andEnvironmentProtection(BaselConven-tion).Version3is,itmustbestressed,nottheCustomsinterpretationoftradeagen-cies’requirements.ForVersion3,DMPTmemberswereaskedtoconsultwithtradeagenciesintheircountriesandidentifytheadditionalrequirementsthatneededtobeaddedtocreatetherequiredsinglewindowdatastandard.InadditiontoMembers’in-put,representativesfromtransport,agricul-ture,environmentandmarinesafetywereaskedtocontributeandreviewthecontentsofVersion3.

Version3oftheDataModelisnearlycom-plete.ItisnotjustCustoms!Therearethreebasiccomponentstothisversion;thedataset,thebusinessprocessmodels,andtheoverallinformationmodel.Thesecompo-

• EDI (electronicdatainterchange)isthegenerictermdefiningexchangeofinformationinanautomatedmannerbetweentwoentitiesusingstandardizedmessages,fromonecomputertoanother.

• EDIFACT(electronicdata interchangeforadministration,com-merceandtransport),isthemostcommonandwidelyusedvocabulariesintheEDIenvironment.UN/EDIFACT(ISO9735)isaninternationalstandardthatdefinesthesyntaxrulesfortheelectronicexchangeofmessagesbetweenplayersinthegovern-ment,tradeandtransportfields.ItwasdevisedbytheUNCentreforTradeFacilitationandElectronicBusiness(UN/CEFACT).

• XML(extensiblemarkuplanguage)offersanalternativemeansforsystem-to-systemexchangeofdataintheEDIenviron-ment.Itprovidesabasicsyntaxthatcanbeusedtoshareinformationbetweendifferentkindsofcomputers,differentapplications,anddifferentorganizationswithoutneedingtopassthroughmanylayersofconversion.

“As the international forum for Customs’ administrations, the

WCO was the ideal organization to continue this standardization”



nents,whichinfactmakeupversion3,wereapprovedbytheWCOCouncilinJune2008.Thelastpart,consistingofmessageimple-mentationguidelinesandotherdocumentstosupporttheimplementationoftheWCODataModel,willbecompletedattheendof2009.WCOMembersagreed thatawhole-of-governmentdatasetneededacorrespondingwhole-of-governmentmes-sagecalledtheWCOGovernmentCross-BorderRegulatoryMessage(GOVCBR).TheconceptanddevelopmentoftheGOVCBRmessagehasbeenapprovedbyinternationalstandardizationbodiesandafteritspublica-tion,anewEDIFACTmessage.InadditiontoapprovaloftheGOVCBRmessage,thecontentsofversion3areconsistentwiththeinternationalstandardsoftheUnitedNationsTradeDataElementsDirectory(UNTDED).

TherearemanyingovernmentandtradewhobelievethattheWCODataModelwillresultinthesubmissionofmoredata.Thisisnotthecase.Alloftheelementsinversion3havebeenvettedagainstMem-bercountries’legalrequirements.Manyoftheelementsarenotroutinelypartofthe

Customsdeclaration.WhiletheymaynotbepartoftheCustomsdeclaration,itisin-formationthatissentinsomeway,insomeformat,oronsomeform.Acarefulanalysiswillrevealthattheeliminationofmultiplesubmissionsofredundantdatawillactuallyresultinareducedamountofdataneedingtobesubmitted.

WCOMemberCustomsadministrationsaswellasMinistriesofTradeorCommerceandMinistriesofTransportareurgedtoadoptversion3oftheDataModel.Manybenefitswillaccruetothoseusingversion3–mostnotably,thefacilitationoftradeprocesseswhilesimultaneouslyimprovingenforce-mentcapabilities.Thereisnolongerneedtotranslateandmanipulatedataandmes-sagesfromonesystemtoanother,fromonedocumenttoanother,orfrommanydocu-mentsintoanautomatedsystem.Thiswillresultintangiblecostssavings,improvedac-curacy,andmoretimelyreleaseofgoods.

TheWCODataModeland“whole-of-gov-ernmentcross-bordersinglewindow”arekeycomponentsofseveralWCOinitiativesandinstruments.

TheWCOSAFEFrameworkofStandardsusesanextractoftheDataModel.There-alisationoftheCustoms-to-CustomspillaroftheFrameworkwillbepossiblewiththeDataModel.TheRevisedKyotoConven-tion(RKC)encouragessignatoriestoadoptinternationalstandardsanddevelopsinglewindow-styleprocessing.TheCustomsEn-forcementNetwork(CEN)ande-ATAwilladopttheinternationalstandardsoftheWCODataModeltoo.

Considerabletime,effort,knowledge,andtalenthavegoneintothedevelopmentofversion3oftheDataModelwhichwillpro-videstabilityandpredictabilityforbusiness-to-governmentandgovernment-to-govern-mentexchangeofdata.Thereisnothinginthe“standards”worldthatcanmatchthecontentsandcomprehensivenessofver-sion3.WCOMembersshoulduseWCODataModelasthestandardforCustomsprocessingandthesinglewindow!

More information [email protected]

Theauthor

BillNolleisa35-yearveteranofUSCustomsandBor-derProtection(CBP)andservedasaTechnicalAttachéattheWCO.Nowretiredfromgovernmentservice,heisworkingwithmanycountries,particularlyintheASEANregion,inthedevelopmentanddeploymentofdatastandardsandthesinglewindow.

GOVCBR (governmentcross-borderregulatory)messagesallowuserstosubmitauniquestandardmessagecontainingallinformationrelatingtoaninternationaltradetransactiononce.Assuch,GOVCBRisthecornerstoneofaSingleWindowenvironment.UsingUN/EDIFACTstandards,themessagewasdevelopedbytheWCOusingVersion3.0oftheWCODataModelasabasis.MessageimplementationguidelinesonhowtouseGOVCBR(e.g.whatinformationisneeded,etc.)willbeproducedbytheWCO.Countrieswillneedtofurtherdeveloptheirownguidelinesthatadaptthetemplatemessagetonationallegislationandterminology.


l a V i e D e S M e M B R e S

KNOWLEDGE BEYOND BORDERS

www.customscentre.canberra.edu.au

WORLD CLASS EDUCATION FOR THE CUSTOMS PROFESSION


f l a S h i n f O

Switzerland provides sustainable support for the WCO Fellowship Programme

On25March2009,Mr.KunioMikuri-ya,SecretaryGeneraloftheWCO,

andMr.AndreaCanonica,HeadoftheInternationalAffairsServicewithintheFederalCustomsAdministration(FCA)ofSwitzerland,signedanagreementre-newingSwissCustoms’supportfortheWCOFellowshipProgrammeforFrenchspeakers.

TheFCAhasundertakentospon-sorbetweenoneandthreeFel-lows every year, thus offeringtheseyoungCustomsmanagersanopportunitytoaddtotheirknowledgeanddeveloptheirskillsintheCustomsdomainand,morespecifically,intheareaofinterna-tionalCustomsstandardsdevel-opedbytheWCO.FormanyyearsnowtheFCAhasalsoplayedhosttoFellowsselectedforthestudytriptoBerne.

ItisthanksinparticulartoactivesupportfromcountriessuchasSwitzerlandandotherdonorsthat,earlierintheirca-reers,severaloftoday’sDirectorsGeneralofCustomsfromallpartsoftheworldreapedthebenefitsoftheWCOFellow-shipProgramme.

TheProgrammefallswithinthescopeoftheColumbusProgrammeanditsinitia-

tivestodevelopMemberadministrations’managementcapacities.Theaimistoas-sistCustomsadministrationswiththeirorganizationaldevelopmentbyequippingafewmanagers,chosenfortheircareerdevelopmentpotential,withthetechni-calknowledgeandcapacitiesrequiredtoimplementreformandmodernizationac-tionswithintheiradministration.

The50thFellowshipProgrammeforEng-lish-speakingCustomsofficerscommenceson12October2009.ThefourweeksofstudyinBrusselswillfocusontheMan-agementCourseandonwork,withintheWCOSub-Directorates,relatingtoeachFellow’schosensubject.TheFellowswillspendthelastfortnightoftheProgrammeinahostCustomsadministration,observ-ingitsoperations.

More information www.wcoomd.org

WCO Council prepares to elect new Deputy Secretary General

OnSaturday27June2009,theDirectorsGeneralofCustomsassembledforthe

113th/114thSessionsoftheWCOCouncilwillelectanewDeputySecretaryGeneral.

ThepostofDeputySecretaryGeneralhasbeenvacantsince1January2009,andin

accordancewiththerules,theCouncilwillbecalledupontoappointasuitablecandidatetothepost,totakeeffecton1January2010.

TheSecretariatispleasedtoannouncethatthefollowingthreecandidateshave

putthemselvesforwardforelection:

•Mr. Sergio Mujica Montes, DirectorGeneralofCustoms(Chile)

•Mr.JanosNagy,CommissioneroftheCustomsandFinanceGuard(Hungary)

•Mr. Paolo Di Roma, Director of theRegionalCustomsDirectorateinVeneto(Italy)

ApressreleaseannouncingthedecisionoftheCouncilinrespectoftheelectionresults will be issued by the WCOSecretariaton27June2009.

More information www.wcoomd.org

Sergio Mujica Montes Paolo Di RomaJános Nagy


f l a S h i n f O

WCO launches database of preferential agreements and related rules of origin

TheWCOhas established a globaldatabaseofpreferentialtradeagree-

mentsandrelatedrulesoforigininac-cordancewiththeActionPlantoimprovetheunderstandingandapplicationofpreferentialrulesoforiginendorsedbytheWCOCouncilinJune2007.

Thedatabaseenablesuserstoaccessandstudypreferentialtradeagreementtextsandtheirrelatedrulesoforiginprovisionseitherbymeansofchoosingacountryonadrop-downlist,onaworldmaporviaalistofagreementsinalphabeticalorder.Thedatabasealsohasafunctionallowinguserstocomparethecoretextsofrulesoforiginprovisionsoftwotofourdifferentagree-ments.Moreover,thedatabasewillrepro-ducespecimensofproofsoforigin(origincertificates)usedintheagreements.

Thedatabasereproducesthecoretextof rulesoforiginprovisions (generalorigin provisions) for all agreementscontainedtherein.Whilethecompletelegaltextofthetradeagreementsandallannexes/appendicesoftherulesoforiginprovisionsarenotreproducedinthedatabase,thelegaltextsofagree-mentsandannexedrulesoforiginprovi-sions(namelytheproductspecificrulesoforigin)maybeconsultedviatheindi-catedwebaddress/esunderthefactualsheetreproducedforeachagreement.

Thesefactualsheetsprovidethefollow-inginformationinrespectofthevariousagreements:

•thecountriesinvolvedinthetradeagree-ment

•thedateofentryintoforceoftheagree-ment

•itsactualstatus(stillactive:yes–thedatabaselistsonlyagreementsinforce)

•thetypeofagreement(freetradeagree-ment,etc.)

•the web address/es of the officialwebsite/softheagreement

Furthermore,theapplicationoffersseveralkeywordsofcommonlyusedterminologyexistinginoriginprovisionswhichhighlightthesekeywordsinthelegaltext.

ThedatabasemaybeaccessedeitherinEnglishorFrench.

WCOMembersareintheprocessoftestingtheapplicationwhichwillofficiallybelaunchedattheforthcomingCouncilsessions.Thedata-basewillbeavailableintheMembers’sectionoftheWCOwebsite.Auserguidewhichwillhelpusersbecomefamiliarwiththefeaturesofthedatabaseisalsoinpreparation.

More informationwww.wcoomd.org

The WCO makes a commitment to renewable energy!replacedduringthecourseofthefinancialyear2010/2011byanewandmoreenvi-ronmentally-friendlysystemwhichwillnotemitanygreenhousegases.

Theconsumptionofelectricityhasalsobeenreducedasaresultofvariousmeas-urestakenbytheSecretariat.


TheelectricityusedintheWCOSecre-tariatpremisesinBrusselshasbeen

100%renewable(guaranteedbyacerti-fyingbody)since1April2009.Electric-ityconsumptionatWCOheadquartersisconsequently“CO2free”,andatnoaddi-tionalcost.

Inkeepingwiththisaimofusing“green”energy,thecoolingunitswhichsupplythebuilding’sair-conditioningsystemwillbe


f l a S h i n f O

WCO holds first CENcomm seminar!

Thefirstregionalseminaronthegen-eraluseoftheWCOCENCOMMtool,

outsidetheconfinesofaspecificenforce-mentoperation,tookplaceinthecityofSuzhou(China)from16to20March2009atChinaCustoms’exceptionalForeignAf-fairsTrainingCentre.HostedbytheWCORegionalIntelligenceLiaisonOffice(RILO)fortheAsiaPacificregionandsponsoredbytheChineseCustomsadministration,theseminarwasattendedby23officersfrom17Customsadministrationsintheregion.ParticipantsfromRILOAsiaPa-cifictogetherwithrepresentativesfromtheUKandUSEmbassiesinBeijingalsoattendedtheevent.

Duringthecourseoftheseminar,twofacilitatorsfromtheWCOSecretariatsharedtheirexpertiseintheuseofWCO

CustomsEnforcementNetwork(CEN)applicationswitha specific focusonCENCOMM.Theyalsohighlightedtheimportanceofusingasecurecommuni-cationtoolduringoperationalactivities,inadditiontomakingapresentationonthemethodologiesused inanalysingdataexchangedduringoperationsandwithintheCEN.

CENCOMMisatoolthatfacilitatestheexchangeanduseofdatainatimely,reliableandsecuremannerwithdirectaccessavailable24/7.Emailmanage-mentandinformationstoragearejusttwoof itskeyfeatures.Beingaweb-basedcommunicationtoolmeansthatitiscosteffectiveanddoesnotrequireanyspecialinstallation.ItishostedbytheWCOSecretariatandmaybeac-

cessedviatheinternetbyauthorizedusers.

TheCENCOMMtoolpermitsaclosedusergroup(CUG)ofofficerstocom-municateviaencryptedchannelsforthedurationofanyCustomsoperationorjointCustomsoperationinvolvingotherlawenforcementagencies.Severalop-erationscanbeorganisedatthesametimeastherearenotechnicallimita-tionstothenumberofCUGsbeingop-erationalatthesametime.


Our condolencesGeorgeWestcottThorne,whojoinedtheWCOon1September1953asaTechnicalOfficerintheNomenclatureDi-rectorate,passedawayintheUnitedKingdomon27March2009.Hewas92yearsold.

Mr.Thorne,amemberoftheStudyGrouponCustomsMatterssetupin1948andwhichwasapreludetotheestablish-mentoftheCustomsCo-operationCouncil(CCC)in1953,wasoneofthe“foundingfathers”ofthefirstNomenclatureExplanatoryNotes.HealsoservedasanAdvisorintheValuationandExternalRelationsDirectorate,asitwasthenknown,priortoreturningtotheUnitedKingdomin1976.

TheSecretariatwishestoexpressitssincerecondolencestohiswife,childrenandfamily.


f l a S h i n f O

Customs valuation under the magnifying glass!

A newbookontransferpricingandcus-tomsvaluationisshortlytobepublished

bytheInternationalBureauofFiscalDocu-mentation(IBFD),aleadinginternationalproviderofcross-bordertaxexpertiseand independenttaxresearch.

TheWTOValuationAgree-mentprovidesthemethod-ology for establishing thecustomsvalueofimportedgoodsandcontainsspecificruleswherepartiestoasalearerelatedtoensurethere-lationshiphasnotinfluencedtheprice.

Transferpricingisthetermusedinthedirecttaxworldtodescribehowpricesaresetbetweencompanieswithin thesamemulti-nationalgroup.Thisisamajor

componentofacompany’staxplanningstrategiesasitdeterminesinwhichcoun-tryorterritorytheywishtheirprofitstobetaxed.Themethodologyforestablish-

ingan‘arm’s-length’pricefortransactionsbetweenassoci-atedenterprises is setout intheTransferPricingGuidelinesestablishedbytheOECD.

Inrecentyears,however,ques-tionshavebeenraisedabouttheextenttowhichtransferpricescanbeusedasthebasisforacustomsvalueandwhetherthetworegimescould,orshould,beconverged.

Theseissues,whichareexploredindetailinthenewbook,havebeendiscussedattwomajorconferencesjointlyorganisedbytheWCOandtheOECD,andarealso

underfurtherexaminationbytheWCOTechnicalCommitteeonCustomsValu-ation.TheWCOSecretariat’sValuationSub-Directoratecontributedtothepub-licationbywritingthechapteronthekeyprinciplesofcustomsvaluationandrelatedtransferpricingissues.

WCONewsreadersarebeingoffereda20%discountofftheregularprice.Inor-dertoensurethisdiscountishonored,thecodeWCO01mustbecitedinorder.Thediscountofferisvaliduntil15July2009.Thelinktothebook’swebpageis:

http://test-www.ibfd.org/portal/Product_030TPCV.htm

More informationwww.ibfd.org

Chinese/Dutch cooperation

ChineseCustomsofficersvisit theWCO with their Dutch Customstrainers on 18 March 2009 for abriefingontheWCOColumbusPro-gramme–theOrganization’scapac-itybuildinginitiativetosupporttheimplementationof theWCOSAFEFrameworkofStandards tosecureandfacilitateglobaltrade.TheVisittookplacewithintheframeworkofatrainingagreementbetweenChinaandtheNetherlands.


Customs intelligence and analysis training forges ahead

Some20Customsofficersbased intheWCO’s11Regional Intelligence

LiaisonOffices(RILOs)participatedinanAnalysisTrainingCoursethatwasheldatWCOHeadquartersfrom4to8May2009.Thecoursewasaimedatenhancingtheiranalysiscapabilitiestoenablethemtoproducebetterstructuredandhigherqualityanalysisreports.

Thistraining,thefirstofitskind,wasfi-nancedbytheWCOthroughtheEuro-

customsFund.ItwasledbytwoCustomstrainersfromtheNetherlandsandcoor-dinatedbytheWCOSecretariat’s JointCEN/IntelligenceTeam.Itcoveredgeneralanalysis,thedifferenttypesofanalysis,themainprinciplesofanalysis,analysismeth-odsandanalysisproducts(reports,report-ingstructure,reportingprocedures,etc.).ParticipantsweregivenanopportunitytotryouttheirnewskillsbycarryingoutstrategicandoperationalanalysisexercisesandbyconductinganalysesusingtheCENdatabaseandothersources.

Asanextstep,theWCOGlobalInforma-tionandIntelligenceStrategy(GIIS)ProjectGroupwilldevelop“AnalysisGuidelines”tohelpMembersimplementaninformationandintelligencestrategy



f l a S h i n f O

A (H1N1) virus, Customs administrations mobilize

WCO/Japan Internship Programme

FacedwiththerapidworldwidespreadoftheA(H1N1)virus–alsoknownas

InfluenzaA(H1N1)–whichconstitutesapublichealthemergencyofinternationalscope,theWCOSecretariathassenttwo

TheWCOwilllaunchanewinitiative–theWCO/JapanInternshipProgramme–inco-operationwiththeJapaneseCustomsad-ministration.TheProgrammehasfiveclearobjectives:topromotetheinvolvementofWCOMemberswhereneitherofthetwoofficialWCOlanguages(EnglishandFrench)iswidelyspoken;toprovideanopportunityforselectedcandidatestoundertakeworkattheSecretariatasatraineeinordertoobtainknowledge,skillsandinternationalworkex-perience;todevelopandenhancenetworksamongWCOMembersandtheSecretariat;toenhancetheresearchfunctionoftheWCOinordertosupportandassisttheSecretariatinitsmissions,workandtasks;andtodevelopapoolofhighlycompetentcandidateswithexpertiseinMemberadministrations.

UnderthisProgramme,sevenCustomsof-ficialsfromdevelopingcountrieswillbese-lectedasinternsonthebasisoftwocriteria:bylanguage(withfreechoiceoftheme);andbytopic(IPRFocus).TheywillthenbegivenanopportunitytospendayearattheWCOSecretariatandthusgainvaluableinterna-

letterstoallDirectorsGeneralofCus-tomsinformingthemoftheepidemic,theprecautionarymeasuresthatshouldbetaken,thelatestdevelopments,themainelementsofaCustomsActionPlanand,finally,thewebsitesofinternationalorganizationssuchastheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO),theFoodandAgri-cultureOrganization(FAO)andtheWorldOrganizationforAnimalHealth(OIE).Theseorganizationsare following thepandemicverycloselyattheepidemio-logical,clinicalandvirologicallevelsandarepublishing,inparticular,theresultsofassessmentsinprogressintheformofpublichealthrecommendations.

WCOMembershavebeeninvitedtoinformtheSecretariatofthedetailedmeasurestheyhavetakenorareintendingtotaketopre-

tionalexperience.Internsareexpectedtoundertakeresearchandstudyonaspecificthemeoraspecialprojectincooperationwithatutordesignatedinaccordancewiththetopicorproject.Theywillhaveanop-portunitytoconductandenhancetheirresearchandstudyinoneormorecoun-triesincludingJapan.Inreturn,internsareexpectedtoassistandsupportthetasksandprojectsoftheSecretariat.

ventthespreadofthisdisease.Twoinforma-tionpapersavailableontheWCOwebsite(Members’section)describethevirus,recentdevelopmentsandgeneralpreventivemeas-ures,andinviteCustomsadministrationstointensifycooperationandinformationexchangewithhealthauthoritiesaswellasvariousborderservicesinordertoworkoutaCustomsActionPlantopreventandstemthespreadofthevirusandthuscontributeactivelytoworldwideeffortstocombattheinfection.ThisinformationwillbeupdatedregularlytokeepMembersinformedaboutongoingdevelopments.

More information www.wcoomd.org www.who.org www.fao.org www.oie.int

TheProgramme,madepossiblethroughfundingfromJapan,willbeanongoingoneandwillenablemanyCustomsoffi-cialstobenefitoverthecomingyears.


36

Z O O M

WCO News – No 59 – JUNE 200936 OMD Actualités – No 59 – JUIN 2009

VisionTheCustomsandExciseDepartmentofHongKong,China(HKC)isaprogressiveandforward-lookingcustomsorganizationwhichcontributestothestabilityandprosperityofthecommunity.Weactwithconfidence,servewithcourtesyandstriveforexcellence.

Mission•ToprotecttheHongKongSpecialAdmin-istrativeRegion(HKSAR)againstsmug-gling

•Toprotectandcollectrevenueondutiablegoods

•Todetectanddeternarcoticstraffickingandabuseofnarcoticdrugs

•Toprotectintellectualpropertyrights•Toprotectconsumerinterests•ToprotectandfacilitatelegitimatetradeandindustryandtoupholdHongKong'stradingintegrity

•Tofulfilinternationalobligations

Values•ProfessionalismandRespect•LawfulnessandJustice•AccountabilityandIntegrity•ForesightandInnovation

International cooperationInfosteringbilateralandmultilateralcustomscooperation,theHKChasconcluded15Cus-tomsCooperativeArrangementswith itscounterparts.AttheWCOCouncilSessions,theHKCwaselectedasaMemberofthePolicyCommissionfrom1998/99to1999/00andastheRegionalVice-ChairfortheAsia/Pacificre-gionfrom2000/01to2001/02.

Regional Intelligence Liaison OfficeTheHKChostedthefirstRegionalIntel-ligenceLiaisonOfficefortheAsia/Pacificregion(RILOA/P)fromDecember1987to

Customs and Excise Department Hong Kong, China

December1998.AftertherelocationofRILOA/PtoTokyo,JapanandthentoBei-jing,China,theHKCcontinuedtosecondof-ficerstoRILOA/PasIntelligenceAnalysts.

Regional enforcement programmesTheHKC has been actively participat-inginregionalenforcementprogrammes,suchasProjectSky-Hole-Patching,ProjectCrocodile,andtheDrugSeizuresImmediateNotificationSystem.ThelattertwowereinitiatedbytheHKCin2004and2007respectivelyforthesuppressionofillicitcigarettesmugglingandtheenhancementoftheintelligencesystemfordrugtraffick-ing.

Investigations on the laundering of drug proceedsApartfrominvestigationsandsurveillanceofdrugtraffickingactivities,theHKCin-vestigates launderingofdrugproceedsandinitiatesapplicationsforfreezingandconfiscatingassetsderivedfromdrugtraf-ficking.

Anti-internet piracyTwoAnti-InternetPiracyTeamshavebeenestablishedtofightagainstpiracyactivitiesontheinternet.Inaddition,theCustomsComputerForensicLaboratoryofferspro-fessionalassistanceincollecting,preserving,analyzing,andpresentingdigitalevidencetothelawcourtinpiracycases.

Regional Training CentreInsupportingregionalprogrammesforca-pacitybuilding,theHKChasbeenhostingoneofthefiveRegionalTrainingCentresfortheAsia/PacificregionsinceJune2004.

Integrity programmeTheHKCadoptedtheWCORevisedArushaDeclarationastheblueprintforintegritymanagementandestablishedtheIntegritySteeringCommitteein2001.Thedepart-mentisalsooneofthepioneercustomsad-ministrationstoissuea“CodeonConductandDiscipline”forallcustomsstaffin1999asaresultoftheWCOrecommendation.

Customs headquartersThenewcustomsHeadquartersbuildingfor

theHKCiscurrentlyunderconstructionandwillbecompletedinmid-2010.

The way forwardAttheforefrontinupholdingtheimportandexportcontrolsoftheHongKongSpecialAd-ministrativeRegion,theHKChasthroughoutthepastyearsattachedgreatimportanceinstrikingafinebalanceinitsroleasalawenforcerwiththatofatradefacilitator.TheHKCwillinthefuturestrivetomaintainitshighlevelofefficiencyandcontinuetoup-gradethequalityofitsservice.

Commissioner of Customs and Excise Mr. Richard M F YUEN(Appointed1July2007)

Total staff5608(at1March2009)

Official address9/F,HarbourBuilding38PierRoadCentralHongKong,China

Date of establishment : 17september1909

General contact pointMs.AlicePYLEUNGHeadofCustomsLiaisonBureauTel:+85228521439Fax:+85228507952Email:[email protected]

Date of WCO membership1July1987

More informationwww.customs.gov.hk

O U R M e M B e R S W O R l D


International Customs Day celebrations around the worldBermuda

Belgium

Korea

Norway

Nigeria

New Zealand

Hong Kong, China

TheMinisterofFinanceandtheFinancialSecretaryhandoutawardsforgovernmentaswellasCustomslongservice

HongKongGuestsandseniorcustomsof-ficialstoasttheinternationalCustomscom-munity

KoreanCustomsService’sCommissionerandDeputyCommissionerposewithAm-bassadorstoKorea

PostershighlightingNorway’s“Goahead,haveanapple!”CustomscampaignwhichadvertisestheworkofCustomsinthefight

againstenvironmentalcrimeweredisplayedalloverthecountry

NorwegianCustomsofficerhandsoutap-plestotravellersatTrondheimAirport

BelgiumCustomsdisplaysseizuresatWCOheadquartersofendangeredspecies

Seizureof45kgofrawivoryatHongKongInternationalAirport

ThediplomaticcommunityjoinKoreanCus-tomsofficialsatthecelebration

Deservingofficersinvolvedinenvironmen-talprotectionposewiththeirWCOCertifi-catesofMerit

NewZealandCustomsholdanopendayinconjunctionwiththeMinistryofAg-ricultureandForestry,theDepartmentof Conservation, and theWellingtonZoo,withdisplaysthatdrewattentiontosmugglingmethods,theharmcausedbysmuggling,offencesdetected,andx-rayequipmentusedtofightenvironmentalcrime

Sierra Leone

CustomsorganizesaSeminarforstaffoftheNationalRevenueAuthority,andrepresentativesofcivilsociety,theCon-servationSocietyofSierraLeoneandtheEnvironmentMinistry

PostersgearedatconvincingthepublictopreventenvironmentalcrimebychangingtheirattitudeweredisplayedallaroundFreetown,SierraLeone’scapitalcity

38


WCO News – No 59 – JUNE 2009

Singapore

South Africa

Serbia

Fiji

Trinidad and Tobago

Slovenia

MozambiquePortugal

The“Starsteam”,winneroftheprestigious“DirectorGeneral’sAward”,poseforthecamera

AtSouthAfrica’sO.R.TamboInternationalAirport, a Customs sniffer dog uncov-erscratesofdriedabalonedestinedfor HongKong

DeputyDirectorGeneralofSerbianCus-tomsawardsCertificatesofMerittoem-ployeesandoperationalworkersresponsi-bleformonitoringtheimplementationofenvironmentalmultilateralagreementsandfightingenvironmentalcrime

TwoformerCustomsofficersreceiveWCOCertificatesofMerit

MembersoftheExecutiveTeamattheTrini-dadandTobagoCustomsandExciseDivi-sionopenthe2009ICDExhibition

VisitorstotheICDExhibitionviewlocalen-dangered/protectedspeciesprovidedbytheTrinidadandTobagoForestryDivision

FijidisplaysaBandedIguana;oneoftheirendangeredspeciessubjecttosmuggling

An“InternationalCustomsDay”cakeonthemenuatFijiCustoms

SlovenianCustomsorganizeanexhibitionofendangeredspeciesseizedbyCustomsofficersoverthelastfewyears.

MozambiqueCustomsofficersplanttreesafterattendingaworkshopontheprotec-tionoftheenvironment

DirectorGeneralofPortugalCustomsad-dressesinvitedparticipants

AproudrecipientofaWCOCertificateofMerit

ApassingoutparadeonInternationalCus-tomsDayforofficersoftheCustomsBorderControlUnit



Training, a key component of capacity building in Iran

Korea takes concrete action to protect the environment

TheIslamicRepublicofIranhasbeenaContractingPartytotheTIR(Interna-

tionalRoadTransport)Conventionsince1976.ThisConventionisaimedatsimpli-fyingandharmonizingtheadministrativeformalitiesapplicabletothetransitofin-ternationalroadtransport.IRICA–the

InlinewiththeKoreanGovernment'sdrive for "GreenGrowth", theKorea

Customs Service (KCS) developed itsGreenCustomsvisionandreleaseditsplan tocombat illegal transactionsofgoodsdetrimentaltotheenvironmentinOctober2008.Thiscomprehensivelong-termplanwasproducedbyadjustingtherecommendationonenvironmentalpro-tectionadoptedbytheWCOCouncilinJune2008toKorea’scircumstances.

Theplancontainsthreekeyfocusareas:

•Firstly, theKCSwillenhance its tar-getingcapabilityforhigh-riskentitiesandgoodsbydevelopinganewcargoselectivitytechniquewhichwillhelpcustomsofficials effectively control

IslamicRepublicofIran’sCustomsAd-ministration–istaskedwithensuringthecorrectapplicationofthisConvention.

In order to update Customs officers’knowledgeofTIRregulations,IRICAor-ganizedathree-dayworkshopinTeheran

environmentallyharm-fulgoods.Inparticular,for companies com-mitting environmen-taloffences, theKCSwillconductaninten-siveinvestigationintotheirforeignexchangetransactions as wellas their involvementinothercross-borderillegalities or organ-ized crimes includingmoneylaunderinganddiversion of criminalprofitstoterroristor-ganizations, and willalso back-track theircashflowifnecessary.

from17to19February2009,incollabo-rationwiththeInternationalRoadTrans-portUnion(IRU).Thisworkshop,openedbyIran’sDeputyMinisterforRoadsandTransportation,broughttogetherover120CustomsofficialswithresponsibilityforTIRproceduresatbordersandwithinIRICA’sheadoffice,andmorethan20representativesoforganizationsandmin-istriesdealingwithtransitissues,suchastheMinistryofRoadsandTransportationanditsaffiliatedservices,aswellasIran’sBorderPolice,theSecretariatoftheEco-nomicCooperationOrganization(ECO),theIranChamberofCommerce,Indus-triesandMines(ICCIM),andtheMinistryofCommerce.

More information www.irica.org

40



InterpolinGabon,andarepresentativefromtheUNSecurityCouncilCounter-TerrorismCommitteewhoattendedasobservers.DuringtheopeningceremonytheWCOSecretaryGeneralremindedparticipantsthattheirdailytasksmustrevolvearoundtheCENanditsapplications.

ThemeetingrecognizedthatthesuccessofOperationCOCAIR(seeissueNo.58ofWCONews),whichdemonstratedonceagaintheusefulnessoftheWCOCENtool,ispartlyattributabletotheopera-tionaltrainingsessioncarriedoutduringthepreparatoryphase.ThisalsoemergedduringtheCOCAIRdebriefing.Allpartici-

patingserviceswereunanimousaboutthebenefitsgained fromthetraining, feltduringandespeciallysinceOperationCOCAIR.

Training,akeyelementofCustomsmod-ernization, is oneof the fundamentalcomponentsofCustomscapacitybuild-ingandthedrivingforcebehindadynamicandefficientCustomsservice.CapacitybuildingisthereforeadecidingfactorintheeffectiveenhancementofCustomsoperations.Fromthisperspective,thereareplanstousedogandhandlerteamsspecializedindrugdetectionforsubse-quentoperations.

AttheinitiativeoftheDirectorGen-eralofGaboneseCustoms,Mr.On-

guindaFridolin,thefirstjointmeetingofNationalContactPoints(NCPs)fortheRegionalIntelligenceLiaisonOfficesforWestAfrica(RILO-WA)andCentralAfrica(RILO-CA)washeldinLibreville(Gabon)from20to22April2009.Thismeetingwasfollowedon23and24April2009byatrainingsessiononCENdata-basefunctionalitiesgivenbytheWCOSecretariat.

Over30delegatesattendedtheevent,in-cludingtheDirectoroftheCentralOfficeforDrugControl(OCLAD),representingICPO/

Enforcement cooperation goes from strength-to-strength!

•Secondly,theKCSwilladdgoodshighlylikelytodamagetheenvironmenttothelistofitemssubjecttoapprovalbyrel-evantgovernmentagenciesbeforeex-portorimport.Moreover,motorcycles,wastefibers,domesticwaste,etc.wouldbeaddedtothelistinthelongterm.

•Thirdly,theKCSCommissioner,YongsukHur,raisedthenecessityfortrilateralin-formationexchangeontheillegaltradeinenvironmentallydetrimentalgoodsattheTripartiteCustomsHeads'Meeting(attendedbyChina,JapanandKorea)thattookplacelastNovemberandpro-

posedtoprovideaspeedierclearanceserviceforenvironment-friendlygoods.TheKCSwillcontinueitseffortstostim-ulateinformationsharingamongnationslinkedtoenvironmentaloffences.

Asafirststepunderthecomprehensiveplan,theKCSintendstoorganizeaspe-cialoperationtocrackdownonillegaltransactionsofenvironmentallydetri-mentalgoodsandendangeredanimalsandplantsinthefirsthalfof2009.Thisoperationwillbe jointlyconductedbyregionalcustomsofficesincooperationwiththeprivatesector,undertheleader-

shipoftheKCS.Duringtheperiodoftheoperation,theKCSwillfocusitsenforce-mentactivitiesonhigh-riskpassengersandcontainershipmentsfromandtotheAsianregion..

More information www.customs.go.kr



Project AIRCOP ProjectAIRCOPisfundedbytheEuro-peanCommission,co-ordinatedbytheUNODCandcarriedoutbytheWCOand Interpol, in close collaborationwithWCOMembers in the regionaswellastheRILOs.TheProjectisaimedatenhancingbordercontrolsandbor-dermanagementthroughheightenedcooperation between services andmoreeffectiveinformationsharingandanalysesviaCENcommforWCOMem-bers,andI-24/7forPoliceservices.ThisProjectenvisagesthesetting-upofjointtaskforces,specializedintargetingandriskanalysis,atAfrica’s internationalairports.TheProjectwillbeextendedtoLatinAmericancountriesatalaterstage.

TheprojecttoestablishaRegionalTrain-ingCentrefordrugdetectiondogswastakenfurtherwhentheWCOSecretaryGeneralpresentedMr.Nanga,ViceChairoftheWCOWestandCentralAfricare-gionandDirectorGeneralofSenegaleseCustoms,with an extremely detailed“preliminarydraft”fortheestablishmentofsuchacentreinWestAfrica.ItwillbebasedinDakar(Senegal)andsupportedbytheFrenchCustomsadministration.Thisproject,despitebeingambitious,rep-resentsagenuinechallengefortheWestandCentralAfricaregionandisagiantleapforwardintermsofbuildingcapaci-tiestocombatdrugtrafficking.

RepresentativesfromInterpolandtheUNtooktheopportunitytospeakaboutGa-bon’sdrugenforcementstrategyand,moregenerally,aboutcombatingcross-bordercrime.Thenecessityforclosecooperation,especiallyintheintelligencedomain,andforsynergybetweenCustoms,policeandotherrelevantagencieswasunderscored

Participantssummeduptheissuesraisedduringthemeetingasfollows:

•theprojecttoestablishaRegionalTrain-ingCentrefordrugdetectiondogsfortheWestandCentralAfricaregion;

•theexecutionofOperationCOCAIR2andProjectAIRCOP(seeboxedtext);

•trainingactivities (CEN,CENcomm,CENdataanalysisandriskanalysis)tobeconductedattheRegionalTrainingCentreinOuagadougou;

•theadoptionofaframeworktrainingprojectonintelligence;

•theestablishment,bytheRILOs,ofahubforcommunicationandinforma-tionsharingbetweenthevariousre-gionalenforcementorganizations;

•andlastly,thecontinueddevelopmentandimplementationofnCENbytheWCOSecretariat.

Theyconcludedbyadoptingrecommen-dationsfullyinkeepingwiththejointActionPlanfortheregion’sRILOsap-provedinBrazzaville(RepublicofCon-go)atthe14thConferenceofDirectorsGeneralofWestandCentralAfricaon17and18April2009.


COMESA takes steps towards a Customs union

From19to23January2009,theSec-retariatfortheCommonMarketfor

EasternandSouthernAfrica(COMESA)organizedaregionalmeetinginLusaka(Zambia)inwhichtheWCOwasinvited

toparticipate.Representa-tivesfromKenya,Mauritius,Malawi,EgyptandZimbabweattendedthemeeting.

Ed de Jong from theWCOSecretariat’sTariffandTradeAffairs Directorate provid-

edtechnicalassistanceonrefiningtheCOMESACommonTariffNomenclature,toensurethatitconformedtothe2007versionoftheHarmonizedSystemno-menclature.

TheCOMESACommonTariffNomencla-tureisoneofanumberoftradefacilita-tionmeasuresonthesimplificationandharmonizationoftradedocumentsandCustomsproceduresinthe19COMESAMemberStates.AsanextstepinCOME-SA’sintegrationagenda,MemberStatesintendtolaunchaCustomsunion.

More information www.comesa.int

42



WCO News: Could you tell us exactly what your work involves?R. K.:IamresponsibleforthecoordinationofallCustoms/Policematterssuchastheworkingprogrammesrelatedtocoopera-tionwiththeWCOanditsRILOs,aswellaswithotherinternationalbodiessuchastheUNODCandOLAF.IalsoactasapointofreferenceforINTERPOL’smembercountriesrequiringassistanceoradviceinCustomsmattersandofcourseforallCustomsad-ministrationsrequiringassistanceoradvicefromINTERPOL.Myotherresponsibilitiesincludethedevelopmentofcommonstrat-egiestoenhancecooperationwithinstitu-tionsandorganizationsinCustoms/Policematters,andlastbutnotleasttotakeinitia-tivesforjointCustoms/Policeoperationalprojectsandtraining.

WCO News: You are a German Customs of-ficial. Can you tell us something about your career before you arrived at INTERPOL?R. K.:In1981,IstartedasanInvestigatorwiththeGermanCustomsInvestigationServiceinHeidelberg(Germany),beforemovingin1986totheCustomsInvestiga-tionofficeinFrankfurtamMainwhereImainlydealtwithdrugcases.AfterashorttimeasamemberoftheWiesbaden-basedJointCustoms/PoliceFinancialInvestiga-tionGroup(BKA),in1993ImovedtoCo-lognewhereIwaspartoftheoperationssupportdivisionfortheCustomsCrimi-nologyOffice(ZollkriminalamtorZKA).UnderGermanlaw,theGermanCustomsInvestigationServicehasstronginvestiga-tivepowers,anditwaswithinthisdivisionthatIwassectionleaderforarangeofsupportissuesrelatingtocriminalinves-tigations,inadditiontorepresentingtheZKAininternationalworkinggroupsonpoliceactivitiesforexample.Myexpe-rienceovertheyearsinjointCustoms/Policeoperationshasshownmeexactlywhatgoodcooperationbetweenthetwocanachieve.

AndinrelationtocolleaguesintheWCOSecretariat,sincemytimeinFrankfurtIhaveworkedespeciallycloselywithtwo–NorbertSteilenandJochenMeyer–whichisapersonalbenefitformewithregardtomyworkontheINTERPOL/WCOco-operation.

WCO News: What are your priorities for 2009?R. K.: Myprioritymissionscertainlycorrespond withsome of INTER-POL’sprioritycrimeareassuchas‘publicsafetyandterror-ism’,‘drugsandcriminalorganizations’and‘financialandhightechcrime’.Drugtrafficking,moneylaundering,counter-feitingandpiracy,illicitcigaretteproduc-tion,andsmugglingallcomeundertheseareaswhichareofmajorinteresttoCus-tomsadministrationsaswell.However,IwouldliketooffermyassistanceasacontactpointforallCustoms/Policemat-terswhereINTERPOLandCustomsworktogether.OfcoursethisarticleservesasausefulvehicletoinformtheCustomscommunitythattheyhaveacontactpointatINTERPOLiftheyneedone!

WCO News: Having just started work in Lyon, how long will you be stationed at INTERPOL?R. K.:Mysecondmentisforathree-yearperiod,withtheoptionofanextensionforanadditionalyear.AsIhavejustbegunmytourofdutyatINTERPOL’sGeneralSecre-tariat,myfocusrightnowisonsettlinginbutIamcertainlylookingforwardtotheworkaheadofme.Soatthemoment,IamnotyetthinkingaboutwhatwillhappenwhenIreturntoGermany.

More information www.interpol.int

Forseveralyears,thestaffoftheIN-TERPOLSecretariathas includeda

CustomsofficialresponsibleforliaisonbetweenPoliceandCustomsservicesand,inparticular,forensuringcoordinationbetweenINTERPOLandtheWCOSecre-tariatinmattersofpotentialinteresttotheCustomsorinvolvingjointCustoms/Policeaction.

Thispost,createdin1998,hasbeenoccupiedsince1March1999byaGermanCustomsof-ficer.AfterGüntherAbendrothandJuergenHartlich,itisnowRuedigerKlausmann’sturn.WCONewsinterviewedhimtolearnmoreabouthisjobatINTERPOL’sGeneralSecre-tariatandhisprofessionalcareer.

WCO News: What were your reasons for taking the Customs/Police Co-ordinator job at INTERPOL?Ruediger Klausmann : INTERPOLstandsforasaferworld.Itfacilitatescross-borderpolicecooperationandsupportsandassistsallorganizations,authoritiesandserviceswhosemissionincludesthepreventionorcombatingofinternationalcrime.Customsadministrationshavealotofspecificknowl-edge,experienceandcapabilityincombat-ingcross-bordercrime.Therefore,thebestwayforwardinthefightagainsttransna-tionalcrimeiscloseandfruitfulcooperationbetweenCustomsandthepolice.Strength-eningthiscooperationmakesmyjobbothmotivatingandchallenging.

R. K.: IamassignedtotheDirectorateforSpecializedCrimeandAnalysis.ThisDirec-torateissubdividedintothefollowingsixsub-directorates:DrugsandCriminalOr-ganizations;FinancialandHighTechCrime;PublicSafetyandTerrorism;TraffickinginHumanBeings;CriminalAnalysis;andAnti-Corruption.

A Customs officer in post at INTERPOL

i n C O n V e R S a T i O n

43WCO News – No 59 – JUNE 2009 43

David Hunt :Oneofthemaindifferencesbetweenversions2and3oftheDataModelisthatforthefirsttimeinformationrequiredbyotherregulatoryagenciestomeettheirreportingneedsisspecificallyincluded.Secondly,Government-to-businessmessagingisincludedinversion3andgreaterconsiderationisgiventosupportforExten-sibleMark-upLanguage(XML)usage.Furthermore,theDataModelnowincludesdatatospecificallysupportother,orpartnerregula-toryagencyinformationforagricultural,dangerousgoods,amuchbroadercoverageoftransitandtheInternationalMaritimeOrganisa-tionFormsatLanding(IMOFAL)reportingrequirements.

D. H.: TheDataModelprovidesasetofdataanddatastruc-turesthatcanbeusedtosupportdataexchangebetweenbusinessandgovernment.Theprovisionofdatastructuresencouragesadministrationstoadoptcommonreportingre-quirements,whichinturnwillsimplifyreportingfortheprivatesector.ThiswillalsomakeiteasierforCustomsadministrationstoexchangedataandencourageinteroperability.

BecausetheDataModelhasbeendevelopedtoalignwiththeUNCentreforTradeFacilitationandElectronicBusiness(UN/CEFACT)datastructures,itisattractinginterestfromavarie-tyofindustryassociationsandregulatorybodiesinterestedin

Whilethisscopemayappeartobesomewhatlimiting,theDataModelProjectTeammembershipbelievesthatbymak-ingtheDataModellessCustoms-centricinconcertwiththeadditionaldata,wehaveaddedthepossibilityofmeetingamuchbroaderrangeofcrossborderregulatoryreportingrequirements.Althoughthesubjectmattermaychange,fun-damentallytheinformationisrequiredtomeetabusinessprocessandthoseprocessesarelargelythesamenomatterthesubject.

aligningtheirinformationrequirementswiththeDataModel.Thismeansthatreportingdatasets,standardsandprocesseswillnaturallyconverge,thusreducingthecostofregulatoryreportingandatthesametimeincreas-ingthequalityofdatare-portedtoregulators. Inotherwords,itisawin-winsituationforindustryandregulatorsalike.

WCO News: What are the main differences between V.2 and V.3 of the Data Model?

W. N.: How will use of the Data Model benefit Customs Administrations, cross border regulatory agencies and private sector?

D. H. :TheDataModelprovidesanelectronic“linguafran-ca”thatcanbeusedtosupportdevelopmentofcross-borderregulatoryreportingsystems,whethertheyaresinglewindow

W. N.: What is the place of the Data Model into the "Single window" concept and more globally in that of “Coordinated Border Management”?

orstandalonesystems.Once theDataModelhasbeenimplemented

DavidHuntjoinedthe Austral ianCu s toms a n dBorderProtectionServicein1983asamemberofthefirstintakeofAs-sistant CustomsOfficers. Sincecompleting histraining,hehasworkedinallofthemajorlinesofCustomsactivityandsince1993hasconcentratedondevelopment,imple-mentationandmaintenanceofCustomsregulatoryreportingsystems.DavidhasbeenAustralia’sdelegatetomeetingsoftheWCODataModelProjectTeamandInformationManagementSub-Commit-teesince2005.

The WCO Data Model: a trade facilitation tool It all started when the G7 deemed standardization and a reduction in the volume of data required for international trade operations essential for facilitating the movement of goods at borders, the key elements undoubtedly being information and documentation.

To ensure that dealings between Customs services, traders and other border regulatory agencies were as efficient as pos-sible, a joint platform for sharing official data had to be developed that would enable all competent border services to share information required to accomplish formalities for the arrival, departure, transit, clearance and release of goods. The Data Model is the product of an ongoing task to harmonize, standardize and rationalize; a task which the international community set itself in the interests of smooth trade flows.

The G7 Customs Experts Group subsequently transferred management of the Data Model to the WCO, given the extensive work that had already been done by the Organization in terms of standardization, security, and facilitation of trade, especially in extending the review and application of data sets to all stakeholders by involving trade circles in particular.

In order to gain a greater understanding of the Project Team’s work objectives as well as obtain a progress report on version 3 of the WCO Data Model, the WCO spoke to Mr. David Hunt (Australia), who chairs DMPT meetings..

44



W. N.: Are there pre requirements to implement this common platform for data exchange?

D. H. :Version3oftheDataModelhasbeenendorsedbyWCOCouncilandadeadlineforfullreleasesetfortheendofthisyear.IamconfidentthatthisdeadlinewillbemetandbelievefinalreleasewilloccurattheJune2009InformationManagementSub-Committeemeeting.ThisisbecausetheworkoftheDataModelProjectTeamisfundamentallyfinished.

D. H. :No.ImplementationoftheDataModelsimplyre-quirescommitmentbyanadministrationtoadoptasetofstandardizeddataelementsandthentoensurethattheirsys-temsimplementationsactuallycomplywiththeDataModeldefinitionsanddatastructures.Inasense,adoptionoftheDataModelsimplifiesthedesigneffortrequiredtodevelopnewreportingsystems.Thisshouldbeasignificantcostsav-ingfordevelopmentteamsinthatmuchofthethinkingaboutreportingrequirementsandtheinformationneededtosup-

portthemhasalreadybeendone,documentedandprovidedintheDataModel.

AlthoughtheWCODataModelprovidesElectronicDataInter-changeforAdministrationCommerceandTransport(EDIFACT)andXMLmessagesanddatastructures,ithasbeenbuiltoninfor-mationconceptsandisthustechnologyneutralatthedatalevel.Thismeansthedataandreportingstructurescanbeimplementedirrespectiveofthetechnologybeingused.

Whatremainstobefinishedistheformalsubmissionandalign-mentoftheWCODataModeltoUN/CEFACTstandards.Thislastprocessislargelyapaperexerciseas,ateverystepofthedevelopmentprocess,theDataModelProjectTeamhasbeenworkingtoensurealignmentwiththeUN/CEFACTstandards.

W. N.: What are the next deadlines (steps) for your Team leading up to the launch of Version 3?

WCO News: The Secretariat will officially launch the new version of the HSCDB (online and CD-ROM formats) at the June 2009 Council Sessions. Why did you decide to bring out a new version and what is the background to it?

oftheHSCDB,theelectronicversionofwhichisstillfarlesspopularthanthehardcopy.OurinvestigationsintothereasonsforthisgapunderscoredtechnologicalandfunctionalobsolescenceaswellastheergonomicsofthepreviouselectronicversionoftheDataBase,whichwasdevelopedseveralyearsago.Wethereforehadnooption

Ray McDonagh : Asyouknow,newinformationtechnologieshaveanimpactonallbranchesofactivity.Thiscanbeclearlyseenwhenitcomestothecirculationoflegalandregulatoryinformation,forwhichthenumberoftextsindigitalformatnowoutstripsthatinhardcopy.Yetwenoticedthatthistrenddidnotapplytothedistribution

An update of the distribution media for WCO Publications was clearly needed!

The new version of the Harmonized System Commodity Data Base (HSCDB) will be pre-sented in the margins of the upcoming Council Sessions. The time is therefore ripe to take stock of the huge task of modernizing the WCO publications distribution media which was embarked upon one year ago. The new Head of Administration and Personnel, Ray McDon-agh, has kindly agreed to answer our questions about this task.

D. H. : IampleasedtohavehadtheopportunitytoworkwithsuchadedicatedgroupastheDataModelProjectTeamindevelopingtheDataModel.Version3isasignificantchangefortheWCODataModelasitmovesbeyondthestrictcon-finesofCustomsreporting.Itrecognizesthatinordertosup-portinternationaldataexchange,thediscussionhasmovedtocommerceasawholeratherthanmultipleindustrysectorsactingalone.

Thefactthatbodies,suchastheUniversalPostalUnion,theInternationalAirTransportAssociation,theInternationalMari-timeOrganizationandothers,areapproachingtheWCOtotalkabout‘alignment’isanendorsementoftheapproachtakentodevelopversion3oftheDataModel.

More Informationwww.wcoomd.org

W. N.: What is your personal point of view about Data Model Version 3 as Chairperson of the Project Team?

administrationswillbebetterplacedtoexchangeinforma-tion,astherewillnotbethesameneedtotranslatethedatapassedbetweenadministrationsandwithotherregulatoryagencies.

IfinditusefultothinkoftheDataModelasasetofbuildingblocks.Onceyouhavetheblocksthatfittogetheryoucanbuildawiderangeofstructuresfromthesameset.Sothecommonbuildingblockscanthenbeusedtodevelopthereportsneededtosupportandimplementregulatorycontrols.



R. M. : Therearethreefundamentaldifferencesinthenewversion.Firstly,thesearchoptionsthroughoutthebodyofthetexthavebeenconsiderablyenhancedthankstotheinstalla-tionofaso-called"linguistic"searchenginewhichtakestheparticularitiesofeachlanguage,suchaspluralsorsynonyms,intoaccountforenhanceduser-friendliness.Bywayofexam-ple,iftheuserinitiatesasearchontheword“car”,thesearchenginewillalsocross-referencetextscontainingtheword“au-tomobile”.

buttofacefacts;ourCD-ROMandwebsitenolongermettheexpectationsofMembersandthePublicandanupdateofourpublicationsdistributionmediawasclearlyneeded.

InconjunctionwiththeNomenclatureSub-DirectorateandGMDPublishing,ourpublica-tionsserviceprovider,weconsequentlysetupasteeringcommitteetaskedwithupgradingalltheproductionanddistributionmethodsforWCOpublications. Inthisconnection, IwishtoexpressmysinceregratitudetotheNomenclatureSub-DirectorateteamswhoactivelyparticipatedinthisprojectandmadeitpossibletolaunchthisnewversionoftheHSCDBinrecordtime.

Wefirmlybelievethatthisnewversion,whichismoreextensiveandeasiertouse,willbewarmlywelcomedbyallthosewhotryitout.

Secondly,thefunctionalitiesforprocessingtheresultsobtainedhavealsobeensubstantiallyexpanded.Forexample,theuserwillbeabletoattachpersonal"post-it"notestosearchresults(atchapter,section,heading,ClassificationOpinionorExplanatoryNotelevel),whichcanbekeptsoastocapitalizeonthesearchresults.

Finally,whilsttakingcarenottoradicallyalterthenavigationinterfacetowhichsomeusershavegrownaccustomed,ithasneverthelessbeencompletelyre-thoughttoenhanceitscomfortandeaseofuse.

W. N.: What extra’s does this new version offer compared with the old version?

R. M. : Wemostcertainlydo.BothMembersandthepublicregularlyasktheWCOtomakedatabasesavailableinawidevarietyofformats.Asaresult,theHSCDBwillnowbeacces-sibleviaarangeofnewmediaincludingUSBkeys(memorysticks).However,inadditiontothese“conventional”media,wearegoingtoembarkonanexperimentalphasebysupply-

R. M. : No,andthisisamajorstepforward.Wehavebroad-enedthescopeofourdeliberationsonupdatingtheHSCDBtotakeintheentirepublicationsproductionline.WewantedtogiveMemberstheoptionofusingourITinfrastructuresothattheycanmanagetranslationsoftheExplanatoryNotesandtheirAmendingSupplementsintodifferentlanguages.UsingtheWCO’sITplatform(EditorialSystem)willsaveMembersagreatdealoftimeandwillenablethemtoaccesstheExplana-toryNotesintheirownlanguage,andviaallthedistributionmediatobeemployedbytheSecretariat.

TheSecretariatispleasedtoinformyouthattheHSCDBwillshortlybeavailableinItalian,RussianandSpanishtoo.Iwould

ingtheHSCDBon“mobile”mediasuchase-booksorpersonaldigitalassistants(PDAs)inordertomeetthedemandfor“roaming”access.TheHSCDBwillalsobeavailablethrough"webservice"consultation,accessibleviavariousCustomsinformationportals.

thereforeinviteMemberstomakeotherlanguageversionsavailabletous.

AtatimewhentheWCOisworkingongivingeffecttoits“Cus-tomsinthe21stCentury”strategicpolicy,andespeciallyontheuseofnewtechnologiesandeffectivetools,itisdutyboundtoleadbyexample.Wehaveaccomplishedourmission!

ApresentationonthisnewDataBasecanbeviewedontheWCOwebsite:www.wcoomd.publications.org

W. N.:Do you have plans to distribute the HSCDB on media other than CD-ROM and the internet?

W. N.: Will this new application and these new media only be available in the WCO’s two official languages, namely English and French?

46

P O i n T O f V i e W


HeadquarteredattheViennaInter-nationalCentreinVienna,Austria,

theInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency(IAEA)istheworld’scentreofcooperationinthenuclearfield.Establishedin1957asanindependent,inter-governmentalorganizationunderUnitedNationsaus-pices,IAEAmembershipcurrentlystandsat146States.

TheAgency’smandatecoversworkinthreemajorareas:

•Itassistscountriestomobilizepeace-fulapplicationsofnuclearscienceandtechnology,whichcontributetogoalsofsustainabledevelopmentinfieldsincludingenergy,humanhealthandagriculture.

•Itservesastheworld'snuclearinspec-torate,conductingactivitiestoverifythatcountriesdonotusesafeguardednuclearmaterialandactivitiesformili-tarypurposes.

•Ithelpscountriestoensurethattheirpeacefulnuclear activities are con-ducted inasafeandsecuremannerand that responsemeasures are inplacefordealingwithanuclearacci-dentorotheremergency.

NuclearsecurityassistanceprovidedbytheIAEAhelpsStatestomeetobliga-tionsderivedfrominternationallegalinstrumentstowhichtheyadhere,in-cludingUNSecurityCouncilResolutions1373 and 1540. Thepriorities of theIAEAnuclearsecurityprogramme in-clude:assessingStates’nuclearsecurityneedsandmanagingandcoordinatingnuclearsecurityinformation;preventingmaliciousandunauthorizedactsinvolv-ingnuclearandradioactivematerialandtheirassociatedfacilitiesandtransport;anddetectingandrespondingtosuchacts.

Concretely, suchassistance can takedifferentforms.Inthisrespectnuclearsecurity advisory missions, evalua-

Border agencies at the frontline of nuclear security

tions and technicalvisits constitute theAgency’s main toolfor helpingStates toassess their nuclearsecurityneeds,andprovideabasisforformulatingplansofactionforimprov-ingnuclearsecurity.Theneedsidenti-fiedbysuchmissionscansubsequentlybeaddressedbytheStatealone,withtheAgency’ssupport,orwiththeas-sistanceofabilateralpartner.

Inaparalleltrack,theIAEAhasdevel-opedconceptsandproceduresfordeal-ingeffectivelywithnuclearandradio-logicalthreats.Thesearedisseminatedthrough international conferences,trainingcourses, seminarsandwork-shopsandsecurityguidancepublica-tions.

Inperformingthesemissions,theAgen-cy has developed partnerships withotherinternationalorganizationsthatshareresponsibilitiesinthefieldofnu-clearsecurity.Thisensuresefficientuseofresources.SuchapartnershipexistswiththeWorldCustomsOrganizationsincethesignatureofaMemorandumofUnderstandingin1998thatestab-lishedaplatformforclosecooperationbetweenthetwoorganizationsincom-batingtheillicittraffickingofnuclearandotherradioactivematerial,aswellas the facilitationof informationex-change–ajointIAEA/WCO“CustomsRadiationSafetyCourse”wasorganizedinOctober2004forexample.TheWCOalsocontributedactivelytothedevel-opmentandpublicationofaseriesofnuclearsecuritytechnicalguides,andIAEA technical documentation suchasthe“Preventionoftheinadvertentmovementandillicittraffickingofra-dioactivematerials”(September2002),the“Detectionofradioactivematerialsatborders”(September2002),andthe“Responsetoeventsinvolvingtheinad-vertentmovementorillicittraffickingof radioactivematerials” (September2002).

Effectivenuclearsecurityarrangementsalso require technical equipment atnuclear installations and at bordersforthedetectionofradiationingoodsandpersons.ProvidingurgentlyneededtechnicalupgradesandequipmenthasbeenthefoundationforIAEAassistancetoStatesinenhancingthesecurityofnuclearandotherradioactivematerialsincetheestablishmentoftheNuclearSecurityProgrammein2002.

Inthisrespect,asoftheendof2008,theAgencyhasprocuredover2600itemsofequipmentfor45StatesinAfrica,Asia,EuropeandLatinAmerica.Thisequip-mentenhancesdetectioncapabilitiesatborders,andsomewasdedicatedtostrengtheningStatesystemsofnuclearmaterialaccountancyandcontrol.Theequipment included: radiationportalmonitors, radionuclide identificationdevices,personalradiationdetectors,neutronsearchdetectors,movablera-diationmonitorsandminimulti-channelanalysers.Itisworthnotingthatthede-ploymentofradiationdetectionequip-mentinacountrynevercomesalone.Withoutpropertrainingandintegrationinthedailyroutineworkoffrontlineof-ficersandaproperplanfortheirsus-tainability,themostexpensivedevices



willbeuseless!ForthisreasontheIAEAusuallyarrangesthetrainingneededtooperateandmaintaintheequipmentinconcomitantevents.

Fromabasicpieceofequipmentsuchapersonalradiationdetectortoaso-phisticatedportalmonitorassociatedwithacentralalarmstation,theprice

rangecangofromafewhundredEurotoseveralhundredthousandEuro.AsIAEAresourcesfortheprocurementofsuchequipmentislimitedincomparisontothegrowingrequestsforsuchtechnicalassistance–evenhigherinanticipationofthepossibleimplementationofthenewUSrequirementthatbyJuly2012,100%ofcargocontainersbescanned

for radiation priorto their departurefor the US – thereis an urgent needto coordinate withother internationalorbilateral supportp rog r ammes andoptimize theuseofresources . In thispar ticular area ofassistance,theIAEA

hasstrengthenedits interactionwiththeEuropeanCommissionandtheUS“SecondLineofDefence”programmetoensurecomplementaritiesofdeploy-mentapproaches.Themainchallengeistoworktowardsharmonizationofthedifferentsystemsdeployedinordertoensureefficientdatacommunicationwithinaparticularcountry.

More [email protected]/Publications/

Customsadministrationshaveworkeddiligentlyformorethantwodecades

to increasevoluntarycompliancewithCustomsregulations,mainlybymakingiteasiertoobtaininformationaboutregu-lations.Isthisdiligencepayingoff?Canmorebedonetoenablevoluntarycompli-

anceand,perhapsevenmoreimportant,tofacilitatetrade?

Knowledge yes, but of what?Tradersneedreadyaccesstoregulationsinordertocomplywiththem,andCus-tomsofficersneedaccess toenforce

them.Butwhichregulations?Thesim-pleanswer:allregulations.Manyagen-ciesinadditiontoCustomshavealegiti-matemandateregardingregulationofgoodscrossingborders.Iftradeingoodsistoflowefficiently,accesstoCustomsregulationsalonewillnotbeeffective.

A National Trade Rulebook …sotherulescanworkandtradecanflow

48



TradersandCustomsofficialsalikeneedtoknowtheregulationsapplicablebyallagenciesaswellastariffandnon-tariffmeasures.Facilitatingtradeandincreas-ing voluntary compliancewith traderulesrequirestheCustomscommunitytomovebeyondisolatedandpiecemealsolutionsandtotakeaholistic,coordi-natedapproachthatinvolvesallagen-cieswithalegitimateCustoms-relatedmandate.

What the trade community tells usAttheWCOITConference inMarra-keshinApril2009,NathanAssociatesInc. surveyed66 international tradeexperts–comprisingrepresentativesofCustomsadministrations,othergovern-mentagencies,andtheprivatesector–from44countriestolearnmoreabouttheirexperienceinobtainingregulatoryinformation.Whatdidtheytellus?Onaverage, countries have 17 agencieswitha legitimatebordermandate,andittakes16hourstofindtariffandnon-tariffmeasuresandregulationsappliedat importforasingletariffline item.Respondents reported aconfidence level of only 50% thattheirresearchwouldidentifyalltherequirements, and nearly all – 97%–would like to seea “national traderulebook”intheircountry.Thesurveyresultsarejustthetipoftheicebergontheimpactcustomsadministrationscanhaveontradefacilitationthroughbetterorganizationandmanagementofmulti-agencyregulations.

Holistic solution eases trade and builds confidenceComparetheexperienceofoursurveyrespondents to that of importers inJordan.There,59agencieshavealegiti-matebordermandatebutittakesonlyoneminutetofindtariffandnon-tariffmeasuresappliedatimportforasingletarifflineitemand5minutestoretrievetheactualregulations–confidenceishighthatallmeasuresandregulationshavebeenidentified.ThedifferenceisthatJordanhasanationaltraderule-book, theComprehensive IntegratedTariffSystem(CITS).

Jordan’sborderregulationscanbelo-catedand retrievedquicklyandwithconfidencebecauseofCITS.Builtandinstalled through a USAID-fundedproject, the system provides readyinternet-basedaccesstoborderregula-toryinformation.Thesoftwarewascre-

atedbyaJordaniancompanywhichhasrefinedandupgradedthesoftwareforcommercialdeployment.ThissoftwarewillsetnewstandardsforcompliancewithArticleXoftheGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade(GATT).

Change rationale, process, and benefitsThecontrastbetweenJordan’sexperienceandthatofoursurveyrespondentsshows

thatanationaltraderulebookcanmaketradeprocessesvastlymoreefficient–savingtime,reducingerrors,andbuildingconfidence–byprovidingfast,reliableaccesstoallregulations,tariffs,andnon-tariffmeasuresapplicabletogoodscross-ingborders.Reliabilityandconfidencearefurtherassuredwhenarulebookisinter-net-based,definitiveandlegallybinding.Thismeanstherulebookis“ownedandoperated”bythegovernment,andthegovernmentassumesliabilityfortheac-curacyofinformation.

Howcanacountryinstituteanationaltraderulebook?First,aswaslearnedinJordan,aprojectofthismagnitudemusthaveahigh-levelchampionwhocanse-curefundingandmarshalotherresources,especiallypoliticalwill.Second,Customsshouldleadtheinstallation,management,andmaintenanceoftherulebookasCus-toms,bymandateandinternationalcon-

vention,alreadyclassifiesgoodsandinterpretsotheragencies’regulationsfortariffclassificationpurposes.Third,toensurecostcontrol,acountrywoulddowelltodrawonthelessonsoftheCITSprojectinJordanandconsiderus-ingcommercialsoftwaretoleapfrog

thebuy-versus-builddilemmacommontoinformationtechnologyprojects.And,finally,institutionalchangemanagementandITinstallationshouldbeintegratedtoensureeffectiveinstitutionofanewsystemthatoffersmuchmorethananITsolution.

Whoaretheultimatebeneficiariesoffast,reliableaccesstolegallybindinginforma-tion?Customs,othergovernmentagen-cies,thetradingcommunity–importers,

exporters,freightforwarders,etc.–andendconsumers.Andwhatistheultimatebenefit?Rulesthatworkandtradethatflows.


Walter HekalaisPrincipalAssociate,TradeandInvestmentatNathanAssociatesInc.SinceleavingUSCustomsin1997afterasuccessfulcareer,hehassupportedseveraldonorfundedprojects,includingfieldworkasaportfolio,program,orprojectmanager.HeisacertifiedProjectManagementPro-fessional(PMP)andaCertifiedQualityAuditor(CQA).HisbordermanagementinnovationsincludedevelopingthefirstComprehensiveIntegratedTariffSystem(CITS)andholisticbordermanagementreformsthroughamulti-agencyBorderManagementTaskForce(BMTF).WalthasalsoassistedCus-

tomsadministrationsinsuccessfulpublicintegrity(anti-corruption)programmesthatmeetWCORevisedKyotoConventionandSAFEstandards.

“A national trade rulebook can make trade processes

vastly more efficient”

e V e n T S


Sixth Worldwide Security Conference

TheEastWestInstitutepartneredwithItaly,2009ChairoftheG-8,andthe

WorldCustomsOrganizationtohosttheSixthWorldwideSecurityConference(WSC6)atWCOheadquartersinBrus-selsfrom18to19February2009withthetheme‘FromtheGlobalWaronTerror,toCommonSecurityandJointAction’.

Communities at riskAroundtheworld,thethreatofterror-ismandincreasingglobalizationarere-shapingthefundamentalnatureofriskandhowtorespondtoit.Govern-mentswhoareresponsibleforbor-derintegrityandsecuritynowfacerisingcomplexityinaccomplishingtheirmission.

“Morecoordinatedintelligenceisthebasisformeetingthesecuritychallenge”, saidWCOSecretaryGeneralKunioMikuriyainhisopen-ingspeech.TheSecretaryGeneralem-phasizedtheneedforaglobalnetworkbasedonglobalstandardsandonreal-timecollaborationbetweenCustomsauthoritiesandbetweenCustomsandbusiness.Healsostressedtheneedforbettercoordinationamongallagenciesinvolvedinbordermanagement.

DuringtheConference,twoworkshopsfocuseddirectlyonCustoms-relatedmatters,namely, theUS100%scan-ninglawandcounterfeitingasameanstofundingterrorism.Highlightsfromthesedeliberationsarepresentedbe-low.

Finding the needle in the haystackTheworkshopontheUS100%scan-ninglawwhichrequiresallUS-boundcontainerstobescannedpriortode-parture,sawrepresentativesfromtheEuropeanCommission,USCustomsandBorderProtection(CBP),thetechnologyindustryandtheWCOdiscussingtheef-fectivenessofthismeasuretoimprovesecurityaswellasitseconomicefficien-cy.“September11changedourworldinCustoms”,saidUSCustomsAttachéDavidDolan.HeaddedthattheprioritymissionofCBPnowwastoprotectthe

countryfromterrorists;thiswastheirguidingprincipletogetherwiththetwingoalsofsecurityandfacilitation.

TheECrepresentativerecognizedthatcontainersecurityhadbecomeanim-perativebutaddedthat,“thisconfer-enceconfirmsthattocombatterrorismweneedinternationalcooperationandcoordinatedpoliciesbutwhatwedonotneedisunilateraldecisionssuchas100%scanningthataredisruptivetocooperationandtotheinterestofall

partners”.HealsocommentedthattheEuropeanCommissionwas“highlyin-terestedinnewideasbeingdevelopedintheUSandelsewhereasalternativesto100%scanning”.HeaddedthattheEuropeanCommissionwouldbepre-pared,onthebasisofamulti-layeredriskmanagementapproach,todiscussaUSrequesttostrengthenbilateralcoop-erationonsecurityinordertoidentifyrisksmoreeffectivelyincludingcapacitybuildinginsomeports.

TheWCOexpressedtheconcernsoftheCustomscommunityaboutthelaw,andsaidthat,“NowthatanewUSadminis-trationisinplace,weplantocontinueourconstructiveengagementpoliciesinthehopeofconvincingUSauthoritiesthattheriskmanagementapproachcanprovidetheUSwiththesecuritytheyrequirewithoutburdeninginternationaltrade”.

Theworkshopthenexploredtherea-soningbehindthecreationofthelawbutStephenFlynn,aresearcherattheCouncilofForeignRelationswhoservedastheleadpolicyadvisoronhomelandsecurityforthepresidentialtransitionteam,statedthat,“PresidentObama

hasalotonhisplateandisunlikelytofightan initiativebackedbyaDemo-crat-controlledCongress”.AccordingtoFlynn,“thereislittlehopetomakesenatorsrepealalawtheyhadstrongly

supported”.

Intellectual property crime is not victimlessThesecondworkshopdealtwiththeissueofcounterfeitingasameanstofundingterrorism.Thereasonthatter-roristorganizationswouldturntocoun-terfeitinginordertofundtheiractivitieswassimpleexplainedthepanelists:the

tradewasfastandeasy;andtheprofitsgeneratedbysalesfromcounterfeitprod-uctssignificantlyoutweighedthoseofotherillegalproducts.Itwasmentionedthatwhileitwaswell-documentedthatorganizedcrime,includingthedrugcar-telsinCentralandLatinAmerica,financedtheiractivitiesbytradingincounterfeitgoods,therewasasmallamountofharddatatosupporttheclaimthatcounter-feitproductssupportinternationalterror-ism.MembersofthepanelrepresentingCustomsauthoritiesandrightholderspreferredtorefertoorganizedcriminalsratherthanterroristsasusingcounterfeit-ingtofundtheiractivities.

Indeedmoststudiesfocuslargelyonanec-dotalevidenceindrawingconnectionsbe-tweenterrorismandcounterfeiting,anex-ampleofwhichisInterpol’s2004seizureof1.2millionUSDollarsworthofcounterfeitGermanbrakepadsinwhichlaterinves-tigationsrevealedthattheproceedswasearmarkedforsupportersofHizbollah,theLebaneseterrororganization.Somespe-cificterroristincidentsalsoappeartohavebeenfundedbycounterfeitoperations.TheFBIhascompiledevidencethattheterror-istswhobombedtheWorldTradeCenterin1993financedtheiractivitieswithcoun-

“This conference confirms that to combat terrorism we need

international cooperation and coordinated policies…”

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terfeittextilesalesfromastorelocatedonBroadwayinNewYorkCity.Threeyearslater,theFBIconfiscated100,000counter-feitproductsmanufacturedforsaleatthesummerOlympics.ThisoperationfundedanorganizationrunbySheikOmarAbdelRahmanwhowaslatersentencedto240yearsinprisonforplottingtobombhistoriclandmarksinNewYork.InterpolhasfoundthatChechenrebelsfundtheiroperationsthroughthesaleofpiratedCDsandthatparamilitarygroupsinNorthernIrelandfundtheiroperationsbycounterfeitingDVDs.EvenAlQaedahasbeenlinkedtothecounterfeitindustrythroughsalesof

fakeperfumesandshampoos.AccordingtoNewYorkCity’sPoliceDepartment,thesaleofpiratedCDswasresponsibleforfundingthe2004bombingofaMa-dridtrain–anincidentthatresultedinthedeathsof191people.

Apanelspeakerremarkedthat,“inthecurrenteconomiccrisis, the riskofanincreaseinsmugglingactivitiesishigh”whilearepresentativefromtheprivatesectorsaid,“Mycompanyisbeinghitbytherecessionandwearelaying-offsomecontractorsbutweareconcernedthattheymaybetemptedtoproducecoun-

terfeitgoodsinordertosurvive”.

Allspeakerscalledforgovernmentstoenhance their cooperation and shareintelligence,andtocombatintellectualpropertytheftasacrimeinitsownright.“Wecanthenhopeforasecondaryben-efit;areductioninterrorismpotentiallyfinancedbythecounterfeittrade”,theyconcluded.

More informationwww.ewi.info

Everything you ever wanted to know about illicit cash couriers

Moneylaunderingisnotastand-alonecrime:itisheavilyintertwinedwith

othertypesofoffencesandcriminalac-tivities,suchasthetraffickingindrugs,weapons,stolenvehicles,worksofartandcounterfeitgoods,aswellastaxfraudandthemisuseofcorporateproperty.

PConfiscation of assets remains themosteffectiveweapon in combatingthistransnationalcrime.However,thisisfarfromeasy.Inthewakeofglobali-zationandtradeliberalization,organ-izedcrimesyndicatesandenterprising

individualsareprofitingfromopenbor-ders,privatization,freetradeareas,theweaknessofcertaincountries,off-shorebanks, electronic fund transfers andotherinternet-agebankingtechniquestolaundertheprofitsgeneratedbythistraffickingeverysingleday.

Moneylaunderingimpactsontheecon-omyinanumberofdifferentways: itresultsinflawedpoliciesasaresultoffaultystatistics;volatileexchangeandinterest rates; fraudulent incometaxreturnswhichdistorttaxreceiptsand

theallocationofpublicexpenditure;un-faircompetitionfromfrontcompanieswhicharenotsubjecttothesamefund-ingproblemsasthosethatarefinancedlegally,etc.

Theinternationalcommunityagreesthatacoordinatedmultilateraleffortbasedoninformationexchange,standardrules,etc.isneededtocombatmoneylaundering,includingtherisksposedbyalternativeremittancesystems.Amongtheseillicitmoney transfer systems, thepracticeknownas“cashcouriers”,inotherwords

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theintegrityofseizuresbemaintained?Howcanariskstrategyandriskanalysisbedeveloped?Howshouldinformantsbehandled?Theanswerstothesespecificquestionswereprovidedbyexpertsus-ingvariouscasestudiesandgoodprac-ticeswithaviewtohelpingparticipantstodevelopapracticalknowledgethatcouldbeusedinimprovingcontrolsandinvestigations.

Sharing informationAmong the challenges identified, theConferenceemphasizedtheneedforco-operationbetweencompetentservicesatnationallevelandattheinternationallevel.Cooperationis,infact,crucialinin-terceptionoperationsandintheensuingenquiriesasitfacilitateseffortstodeter-minetheoriginandnatureofthemoney,andtounravelanoftencomplexthread.

INTERPOLremindedparticipants thatcooperationbetweenpoliceservicesatgloballevelwasfacilitatedbyNationalCentralBureaus(NCB)thatareindirectcontactwithINTERPOLheadquartersandthoseinothercountries.TheWCOinturnprovideditsMemberswithanumberofmutualassistance instrumentsfortheexchangeofinformationandintelligence,inparticulartheModelBilateralAgree-mentonMutualAdministrativeAssist-ance.SpeakersalsocalledonenforcementservicestosupplydatatoandmakeuseofthedatabasesdevelopedbytheWCOandINTERPOLtofacilitateaccesstoandthesharingofintelligence.

individualstransportingreadycash,re-mainsproblematicandtopical.

ParticipantsattheSecondInternationalConferenceonIllicitCashCouriersgath-eredinBrusselsfrom27to30April2009tocontinuetheirdiscussionsontheissue.JointlyorganizedbyINTERPOLandtheWCO,theeventbroughttogetherrepre-sentativesofCustoms,FinancialIntelli-genceUnits,policeauthoritiesandotherenforcementservices.

Identifying shortcomingsAttemptstocombatmoneylaunderingare incorporated intovarious interna-tionalinstruments,includingresolutions,conventions,andtreaties.TheFinancialActionTaskForce (FATF)produced its40+9Recommendationsinthisfield,andadoptedSpecialRecommendationIXonCashCouriersinOctober2004.Theserec-ommendationswerefollowedinFebruary2005byaFATFInternationalBestPrac-ticesdocumentwhichspecificallyaskscountriestotakemeasurestodetectthephysicalcross-bordertransportationofcashandbearernegotiableinstruments,andtointroduceadeclarationsystemorotherdeclarationobligations.

TheConferencegavetheWCOSecretariatanopportunitytopresentitsanalysisoftheprogressthathadbeenmadeinim-plementingSpecialRecommendationIXonCashCourierswhichtook59mutualevaluation reportsdrawnupbyWCOMembersintoaccount.

The common themes and shortcom-ingsidentifiedinclude:toofewofficialsresponsibleforthepreventionandre-pressionofthiscrime;pooruseofpoliceresourcesandtechniques;thefactthatforensicscience,ahighlyspecializeddis-cipline,stillremainsembryonicinmanycountries;nationallawswhicharenotal-wayscompatible;andpenalties–financialand/orcriminal(seizures,confiscations,prisonterms,fines,etc)–whichremaintootentativeinmanycountries.

Whatmeasurescanbetakeninthefaceofalegalvacuum?Howcanacashdec-larationsystembeimplemented?Whatinterrogationtechniquescanbeusedtoprovetheoriginofthemoney?Howcan

INTERPOL’sglobalsecurepolicecom-municationssystem, I-24/7,towhicheachNCBislinked,allowstheexchangeofessentialinformationonperpetratorsand illegal activities 24hours a day,sevendaysaweek.ThankstoI-24/7,anNCBcancarryoutsearchesandcross-checksbydirectlyaccessingdatabaseswhichcontaininformationonsuspectedterrorists,wantedpersons,fingerprints,andlostandstolentraveldocuments.Thesedifferenttoolsgivelawenforce-mentofficersinstantaccesstopoten-tiallyimportantdata,thusfacilitatingcriminalenquiries.WhileI-24/7isin-stalledintheNCBtobeginwith,eachINTERPOLmembercountrycanextendaccesstothisnetworktoothernationallawenforcementbodiessuchasthebor-derpolice,Customs,immigrationserv-ices,etc.

TheWCOCustomsEnforcementNet-work(CEN)whichisaglobaldataandinformationgatheringsystemforCus-toms intelligence purposes providesWCOMemberswiththepossibilitytoexchangeanddisseminateinformationonCustomsoffencesinareliableandsecuremanner,withdirectaccessroundtheclock.Customsadministrationscanissuealertsandshareanalyses,photosanddocumentationon traffickingorseizures.AnalysisofcurrencyseizurecharacteristicsreportedintheCENas-sistinthedevelopmentofriskprofiles.Withtheaidofthedatareported,overthepastfewyearstheWCO’sRegionalIntelligenceLiaisonOfficeforWesternEuropehascompiledareport(“Sezam”)analysingthephenomenonintheregion,withtheaimofidentifyingtheroutesusedbycashcouriersandestablishingriskcriteria.

TheWCOalsoprovides itsMemberswithasecuremessagingsystemspecial-lydesignedforcross-borderoperations,knownasCENCOMM.TheorganizingcountryisfreetoopenthesystemtoservicesotherthanCustoms.Encour-agingparticipants touse this tool, aspeakerpresentedtheresultsofandthelessonslearnedfromOperationAthena,whichinvolvedheightenedanti-moneylaunderingcontrolsin28countriesdur-ingSeptember2008.

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End of “cash”Criminalactivitiesquicklyadapttothelatestcircumstances,andtherapidlyex-pandingInternetfinancialservicessectoralsoprovidesnewopportunitiesformon-eylaunderers.Asonespeakerexplained,theuseofprepaidpaymentcardsinlieuofreadycashbycashcouriersposesnu-merousproblems.Thesecardsarenotlinked toabankaccount, canbepur-chasedfromnon-financialsalesoutlets,areanonymous,easilytransportableandexchangeable,andthereforerepresentarealopportunityforcriminals.Facedwiththisphenomenon,itisessentialtodevelopproperawareness,partnershipwiththecommercialinstitutionsinvolved,andsuitableregulations.

Heed the expertsInconclusion,speakerscalledonallcoun-triestoparticipateactivelyinthefightagainstcashcouriersbytrainingstaffin

thedifferentservicesinvolved,particu-larlyCustomsandthepolice.

Onlybyimprovingtheexpertiseoftheiragentscanenforcementserviceseffec-tivelycombatthisscourgeandrespondtothevulnerabilitiesexploitedbycriminals.

Participantsalsoencouragedrepresenta-tivesoffieldservicestobecomeinvolvedintheworkoftheFATFbyensuringthattheyarerepresentedwithintheirnationaldelegationattendingFATFmeetings.

At theendof theConference, recom-mendationsweredrawnupforWCOandINTERPOLMembers.Theserecommen-dations,andspeakers’presentations,areavailableontheMemberspagesoftheWCOwebsite.


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A Single Window for international trade

Atthe2009WCOITConferenceandExhibitionwhichtookplacefrom22

to24April2009inMarrakesh(Morocco),almost600delegates fromCustoms,otherborderregulatoryagenciesandtheprivatesectormettoanalyzetheinterna-tionaltradesinglewindowconceptandtoconsiderthebenefitsassociatedwithsuchasystem.

Thesinglewindowideahasbeenaroundformanyyears,butthereremainwidelydif-feringideasaboutexactlywhatitis,howitshouldoperateandwhetherCustomsmusthaveacentralrole.Despitethisuncertainty,therearesomecoreideasthatareagreedbyall:

•Thesinglewindowisallabouttradefacili-tation,andassuch,itisentirelyconsistentwithWCO’sstrategicthinkingencapsu-latedintheongoingdevelopmentoftheSAFEFrameworkand“Customsinthe21st

Century.”

•Itisawhole-of-governmentactivitythatrequiresstrongpoliticaldrivefromtheup-perechelonsofgovernment

•Theremustbelong-termcommitment,includingappropriateresources,fromallstakeholdersinallsectors

Therearemanytermsandideasintradecirclesthatrelatetothesinglewindowsuchasone-stopshops,portals,portcommunitysystemsandsoon.Allhave

veryrelevantconnectionstothesinglewindowconcept;howeverastandarddefinitionwasagreedbyalltobevital.InMarrakeshmanyspeakersspokeofUN“Recommendation33thatprovidesan internationally recognizeddefini-tionofthesinglewindowataveryhighlevel.TheWCOacceptsthatdefinitionandhasdevelopeditsowninstrumentsincluding theWCODataModel anddataharmonizationguidelineswithinitsboundaries.

Therewas also universal agreementthatasisthecasewithtradefacilita-tionmoregenerally,thesinglewindowcannotworkwithoutduecooperationandcollaborationamongstallparties,inparticularbetween thepublic and

privatesectors.Whilstacknowledgingtheimportanceofcollaboration,partic-ipantsalsodiscussedthebenefitsofim-plementingasinglewindow.Thetradewillnotbeinterestedinchangingpro-ceduresorsystemspurelyonthebasisofagoodidea;tangiblebenefitsmustbedescribedandideallyprovenbeforeindustrytake-upcanbeassured.SomeCustomsadministrationshavevoicedsimilarconcerns.

In Marrakesh delegates heard manyspeakerstalkaboutbenefitstobothgov-ernmentsandtothetradeinthefollowingmainareas:areducedregulatoryburdenviastreamlinedreportinganddatare-use;integratedgovernmentprocessing,lead-ingtogreaterpredictability;andbettercompliancethrough improvedgovern-menttransparencyandcoordination.

Thiswas a great opportunity for allpresent inMorocco, whether in theformal plenary room, at the exhibi-tionboothsand,mostimportantlyatinformalnetworkingopportunities,todiscussthesinglewindow.Therewasageneralconsensusthatwhilethisre-mainsacomplexissue,eventssuchasthisservetoliftmuchuncertaintyandtoassistallparties to see the issuesmoreclearly.


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Co-organizedbytheWCOandtheInternationalNetworkofCustoms

Universities (INCU), the 2009WCOPICARDConferencewilltakeplaceinSan Jose (CostaRica) from28 to30September2009.

Thisyear’sconferencewhich isbeinghosted by theUniversidad de CostaRicawill focuson specific keyareas:thecurrentandplannedacademicre-searchactivitiesofparticularrelevance

toCustoms and international trade,includingthoseareasofresearchinter-estidentifiedduringthe2008PICARDConference;theimpactoftheeconomiccrisisonCustomsandglobaltrade;theimpactofregionaltradeagreementsonCustomsandtrade,withspecificrefer-encetotheproliferationofsuchagree-ments; the impact of environmentalprotectiononCustomsandtrade;andtheongoingresearchneedsandoppor-tunitiestoaddresstheseneeds.

TheGlobalCongresswhichwassched-uledtobeheldinCancun(Mexico)

from2-4June2009waspostponedduetotherisksassociatedwiththeA(H1N1)virusintheregionandwillnowtakeplacefrom1to3December2009.

Interestedparticipantsareinvitedtocon-

AkeyaimoftheConferenceistoprovideatrulyglobalrepresentationoftheissues.Consequently,participantscanlookfor-wardtopresentationsrepresentingdi-versegeographicviews.


sulttheofficialCongresswebsiteregu-larlyformoreinformationonthelatestdevelopments.

More information www.ccapcongress.netwww.wcoomd.org

Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development

Fifth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy

Defining Single Window benefits: a trade delegate’s perspective

IdentifyingandrealizingSingleWin-dowbenefitsdependsonawiderange

ofcriticalfactors.Besidesasoundpro-grammemanagementapproach,arobustgovernancestructure,andlong-termfi-nancialresources,anumberofadditional

aspectshavebeenhighlightedasmis-sioncriticalforsin-glewindowprojectstorealizebenefits.

Governmentswouldhavetoensuretop-level support andaction in order tobring diverse gov-ernment agencies

togetherandtoovercomeresistanceagainst likelychanges.Allparticipat-inggovernmentbodieswouldhavetoclearlydefinethewhole-of-governmentfunctionalityaswellastheservicestobeprovidedbythesinglewindow,suchasaone-stop-shop,asingleresponse,asinglerelease,etc.Therelevantau-thoritieswouldhavetoworkoutcom-monandsharedprocessessuchasriskassessment, clearance and perform-ancemanagementbasedoncommonKeyPerformanceIndicators(KPIs).Andmostimportantly,governmentswouldhavetoconsultandcoordinatewiththeusercommunity;hereinparticular,withthefullrangeofprivatesectorplayers,inordertocollecttheirperspectiveson

thescopeanddesiredfunctionalityofasinglewindow.

Definingsinglewindowbenefitsexactlyincludingwhowouldreceivethemandhowsignificant thesebenefitswouldbe is imperative, as thiswould helpthetradetojustifytheirinvestmentinupdatingexistingsystemsordesigningnewsystems.


DietmarJost,SeniorAssociate,Booz&Company

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Documents

Coordinated border management, a reality! Money laundering