Ninety-eight countries commit to new WCO security standards

Ninety-eight countries commit to new WCO security standards    Ninety-eight countries from the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania have declared their intention to implement the new security and trade facilitation rules crafted by the World Customs Organization, customs officials said Friday.
   The number includes the 25 countries of the European Union, whose commitment to the agreement was expressed through a single joint signature by EU representatives.
   “Out of 166 (WCO) members, there are practically 100 members who have said ‘yes,’ ” Michel Danet, secretary general of the Brussels-based body, told a press conference Friday. The “Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade” were agreed upon Thursday night at the WCO’s annual council meeting in Brussels. He said customs administrations of other countries were going through the approval process with their national governments and would also back the WCO security standards.
   The WCO does not have powers to enforce the standards and relies on its members to voluntarily do so.
   Technically, the WCO framework of standards was signed by 74 members of the organization, one of whom signed on behalf of the 25 EU countries. Among the countries that have already signed the document and committed to implement the security and trade facilitation standards are the United States, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Russia, India, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and many West African countries. Other Asian countries and parts of Central and South America, the Middle East and the Caribbean have also signed. It is significant that countries linked to terrorism, such as Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran are also signatories.
   The WCO said having nearly 100 countries already on board exceeded its expectations, but agreed the effectiveness of the framework of security and trade facilitation standards depends on its actual implementation.
   “I believe it will be broadly implemented,” said Robert Bonner, commissioner, U.S. Customs Border Protection, who attended the WCO council meeting in Brussels.
   The WCO, the administrations of developed countries and donor organizations like the World Bank are now embarking on initiatives to help poor countries implement the security standards and secure funding.
   “The framework of standards is not only for developed countries, but also for developing countries,” said Liu Wenjie, vice minister in China and head of the Asia-Pacific region within the WCO. Developing countries “need capacity building,” he added. China is the recipient of a major World Bank loan to modernize its customs.
   CBP has set up a capacity building unit to assist other countries and in May appointed a customs official, Robert Ireland, to work at the WCO head office on this area of international assistance. “Developing countries should, and I believe will, receive assistance,” Bonner said.
   The cost of implementing the security and trade facilitation measures is estimated to run into billions of dollars, although some measures were already under way among many countries.
   The security standards are largely inspired by the U.S. security initiatives, notably the Container Security Initiative, the pre-notification of shipments and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Bonner said the United States has already broadly implemented the WCO security and trade facilitation rules, but still has a lot of work to do in terms of customs-to-customs international cooperation.
   In practice, the EU countries also have security and trade facilitation rules in place that meet the WCO standards.
   Bonner also credited the customs administrations of Sweden and Canada for already having implemented effective antiterrorism programs, saying, “there are excellent programs in other countries.”
   Customs officials also believe modern customs rules will reduce the corruption of customs officials.
   Laurent Ruessmann, a lawyer who represents the private-sector association Business Alliance for Customs Modernization, welcomed the fact that the new customs rules will ensure consistency and standardization between countries. “This is a great opportunity to modernize and make more efficient” customs operations, he said.
   Customs administrations that want business to help them implement security standards have also promised that companies that abide by certain security standards will be rewarded through faster customs clearance and fewer inspections.
   Bonner predicted the WCO framework of standards will “revolutionize” security. “Customs administrations will become the ‘securers’ of trade as well as the facilitators of trade,” he said.