WCO FRUSTRATED BY GOVERNMENTS? FAILURE TO RATIFY CONVENTIONS

WCO FRUSTRATED BY GOVERNMENTSÆ FAILURE TO RATIFY CONVENTIONS    The World Customs Organization already has internationally accepted guidelines in place to protect international supply chains from terrorist attacks, but so far few countries have ratified them.
   Two primary WCO conventions, which were developed long before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, are the revised International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, better known as the Kyoto Convention, and the Mutual Administrative Assistance Convention, commonly known as the Niarobi Convention.
   So far, only 11 countries out of the WCO's 160 members have ratified the revised Kyoto Convention since its creation in 1999. Similarly, the Niarobi Convention of 1983 only has 50 signatories.
   'We should implement these instruments,' said Michel Danet, secretary general of the WCO to customs representatives at the WCO and International Chamber of Commerce Symposium on Supply Chain Security and Trade Facilitation in Brussels Monday. 'Otherwise, we'll continue to hear about distortion and dysfunction of (customs security and facilitation) techniques.'
   With the ongoing war against international terrorism, however, customs administrations, especially in the developed countries, said they cannot wait for the impact of multilateral conventions to take effect.
   U.S. Customs Deputy Commissioner Douglas M. Browning said the United States, which has not yet ratified the revised Kyoto Convention, must move ahead with its Container Security Initiative because it will generate 'quicker results.'
   WCO officials continue to ask their members and the shipping industry to encourage their national governments to ratify the organization's conventions. 'Otherwise, all of this work is worth nothing,' Danet said.