Trade facilitation and customs valuation

Nous vivons une époque d’évolution technologique rapide qui peut changer en profondeur les pratiques du commerce international. La nécessité de suivre cette évolution technologique et de bien comprendre ses implications peut effrayer bon nombre d’entre nous. Ce rapport permettra d’éclairer les « technologies de rupture » les plus pertinentes pour la gestion des frontières et aidera les gouvernements à mieux comprendre les défis et les avantages liés à l’utilisation de ces technologies dans l’environnement douanier.

Vivimos en una época de rápidos cambios tecnológicos que pueden alterar profundamente el desarrollo del comercio internacional. Para muchos estar al día de las últimas tecnologías y entender plenamente sus implicaciones puede ser una tarea abrumadora. Este informe arrojará luz sobre las llamadas “tecnologías disruptivas” que revisten mayor interés para la gestión de fronteras y ayudará a los Gobiernos a comprender mejor los desafíos y los beneficios de su utilización en las aduanas.

Conscients de la nécessité de rester au fait des avancées dans le domaine des technologies de rupture et de nous efforcer de comprendre les défis et opportunités inhérents à ces technologies pour les administrations des douanes et la gestion des frontières nous présentons une version actualisée du Rapport d’étude sur les technologies de rupture. Au cours de ces trois années écoulées depuis sa première publication ce rapport s’est avéré être une source d’informations précieuse. Cependant compte tenu des nombreux projets pilotes et progrès réalisés entre temps nous avons pensé que l’heure était venue d’actualiser ce document pour garantir aux membres à la communauté des opérateurs et aux autres parties prenantes une information de qualité à propos des dernières évolutions sur le terrain et offrir un soutien supplémentaire en vue de la mise en oeuvre des normes de l’OMD telles que la Convention de Kyoto révisée.

Based on the proposal submitted by the WCO Permanent Technical Committee (PTC) delegates the Future of Customs topic was launched at the 207th/208th Sessions of the PTC in March 2015. This came as a result of discussions on the role of the PTC where it was agreed that the Committee would take a more active role in discussing strategic matters and future-oriented topics.

The findings from the Study Report and the case studies provided in the Annex reflect a high level of Customs interest and activity in the testing and implementation of three groups of technologies in particular. Over half of the Members that responded to the WCO’s 2021 ACS are already using IoT AI and ML while only two respondents are currently deploying blockchain technology. Information on numerous pilot projects and PoCs shared by the Customs administrations and other stakeholders show the interest in expanding the use of these technologies as well as the confidence in the benefits they will bring to Customs in achieving its objectives and supporting cross-border trade.

I have long been concerned by illicit trade. As Finance Minister in my home country Nigeria I witnessed how it harms societies and impedes economic growth and development. Although the full scale of illicit trade is often obscured by its clandestine nature there is little doubt about its impacts. Spurious products threaten people’s health as well as their livelihoods. Illicit trade undermines legitimate business activity abets corruption and acts as a drain on the revenue and resources governments need to address critical social and economic priorities. And when illicit traders join forces with corrupt officials and financiers the negative impacts are amplified. Illicit trade leaves no country developing or developed untouched.

Le 12 août 2016 l’OMC a publié le rapport du Groupe spécial dans l’affaire engagée par l’Union européenne “Russie — Traitement tarifaire de certains produits agricoles et manufacturés” (WT/DS/485).

The average international trade transaction is subject to numerous procedural and documentation requirements which add to the costs of doing business as an importer or exporter and also use up scarce government resources. While these requirements can be necessary to fulfil policy objectives questions are often raised about why and how they are implemented. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) adopted by WTO Members in 2014 seeks to expedite the movement release and clearance of goods across borders and reduce these trade transaction costs - by an average of 14.3 per cent as estimated by the 2015 World Trade Report. At the same time many WTO Agreements already contain provisions aimed at facilitating trade procedures and avoiding unnecessary costs. The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (the TBT Agreement) is one of these: its provisions on transparency and conformity assessment procedures some of which are applied at the border are of particular relevance in this context. The TFA and TBT Agreements are in fact complementary with the TFA introducing some new requirements/recommendations which are likely to apply to certain TBT measures. This paper maps out the linkages between these two Agreements. It does so with a view to informing TBT officials of the requirements and best practices emerging in the trade facilitation area as well as raising awareness amongst trade/customs officials of existing rules and evolving practices in the TBT area. The 2015 World Trade Report refers to “border agency cooperation” as the main TFA implementation challenge identified by developing countries and also points to the importance of cooperation and coordination between ministries as one of the main success factors. Considering that a significant share of import/export procedures and controls arise from the implementation of TBT measures a better understanding of the linkages between the TFA and the TBT Agreement (as well as other relevant WTO Agreements such as the SPS Agreement) will be crucial for effective implementation. It will also contribute to more streamlined technical assistance activities and raise awareness among TBT officials of the opportunities generated by trade facilitation projects. The procedures and practices of the WTO TBT Committee especially with regards to transparency and specific trade concerns could also be of interest to the future TFA Committee as it embarks on its task of furthering the implementation of the TFA. All these in turn will help reap the expected benefits of the new Trade Facilitation Agreement.