WCO names members to private sector consultative group

WCO names members to private sector consultative group    The World Customs Organization has formed a private sector consultative group to provide industry recommendations for supply chain security and facilitation.
   For the first time in the Brussels-based organization’s 50-year history, an industry-based group will be allowed to offer direct advice on these matters, said WCO Secretary General Michel Danet in an interview with Shippers’ NewsWire Thursday.
   Since taking over the reins at the WCO in January 1999, Danet has ushered in a new era of openness at the organization. The WCO further strengthened relations with the industry that year when it held its first “Open Day for Trade” in Brussels.
   Danet said the private sector consultative group will help to improve the WCO’s supply chain security framework, in addition to addressing ongoing global customs clearance concerns.
   The WCO has named 29 companies and industry organizations to the group: International Chamber of Commerce, American Association of Exporters and Importers, International Federation of Customs Brokers Associations, Moscow International Business Association, Japan Machinery Center for Trade and Investment, Global Express Association, International Chamber of Shipping, International Air Transport Association, International Road Transport Union, World Shipping Council, International Alliance of Ports and Harbors, Business Alliance for Secure Commerce, SITPRO, Boeing, BP, Carrefour, China Ocean Shipping Co., FedEx, General Motors, Hutchison Port Holdings, IBM, Limited Brands, Maersk Sealand, Microsoft, Nissan, Philips International, Procter & Gamble, Siemens and Thales.
   Members of the group will serve one-year terms, with the option to serve a second one-year term. The group will meet in Brussels two to three times a year.
   Danet warned that companies and trade groups in the group must actively contribute to the dialogue. “No one can sit there and just take notes,” he said.
   The WCO picked the companies and trade groups to provide a geographic scope to the issues. The organization is expected to name its 30th member to the group from Africa early next week.
   Danet said the WCO has taken all steps to open the organization’s doors to industry input. In the spring of 2006, the organization will launch its so-called “Mercury Club,” a forum for the entire industry to express concerns and recommendations to the WCO on all customs modernization and reform issues.
   “This provides us with an ability to listen to the private sector (outside the consultative group) to understand its expectations and needs,” Danet said. “Proposals will be given to the different bodies within the WCO for consideration.”