Welcome Speech by R. Struthers, Technical Administrator, WCO

Welcome Speech

R. Struthers,  Technical Administrator, WCO 

Mr. Danet, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, has asked me to represent him at this very timely conference. He sends his regrets that he is unable to attend as his schedule prevents him from being here today. However, he did want the WCO to be represented.

The WCO is pleased to be associated with this conference as a co-sponsor with the IRU and the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.. Security of the global supply chain is of prime importance. We can no longer assume that shipments are in fact what they are declared to be without extraordinary effort on everyone’s part. Fortunately, there has been a collaborative initiative by customs administrations worldwide to tackle this global issue. This led to the adoption of the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global trade during the WCO Council’s annual sessions in June 2005, The SAFE FoS requires customs authorities to collect advance information at an early stage to assess the security risk of each consignment and to use advanced technology for inspection. Moreover, we have not heard of any terrorist incidents caused by the vulnerability of customs control. However, we cannot be complacent as we are only at the initial stage of implementing these global standards for trade security. Terrorists could increasingly use more advanced and complicated modus operandi as we have observed in the fight against organized crime.

I will speak to you about the Framework of Standards during agenda Item 1.

It is appropriate to have representatives here from the business sector as it is them who operate the supply chain. The International Customs Community has identified three areas for cooperation with business to improve the trade supply chain. Firstly, WCO Time Release Studies have shown that business can play an important role in expediting customs clearance at border crossings by undertaking several measures, including the timely provision of accurate information. Business can also help customs by supporting efforts for higher political attention on capacity building in customs and other border agencies. Secondly, business is expected to develop a partnership with customs to address the security concerns in the post September 11 environment. The WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade provides such an opportunity for the business community by identifying those businesses that implement effective measures to secure their own trade supply chain. Their efforts in this regard further minimize risks for customs. Those businesses identified as security partners of customs and who have the status of Authorised Economic Operator should benefit from more facilitation, including quicker clearance and more predictable border procedures. Thirdly, customs wishes to work together with business to preserve the integrity of those involved in international trade.

We will be hearing about a wide a range of initiatives showing how the TIR Convention is used in your Region and how this contributes to the security of the supply chain. This information is very important to the WCO as it will serve as examples to our Members when they are designing the implementation methods for the Framework of Standards.

Unfortunately, I cannot attend all the conference. However, I am sure that the lessons learned over the next two days will be very beneficial for our joint work in securing the global supply chain.