- The 80th Session of the Policy Commission Meeting of the World Customs Organization (WCO) which concluded in Mumbai on December 5, 2018, discussed among others, the issue of menace of illicit financial flows, including Trade Based Money Laundering and ways to control them. Other issues covered during the three-day Session included those related to Small Island Economies and how to bring them in the mainstream of the supply chain and Free Trade Zones. Member countries exchanged their experiences and best practices in different areas of cross border trade.
- During the Session, the officials from the WCO presented the work being done in WCO on various areas. This included the discussion on Strategic Plan (2019-2022) of WCO to carry forward their work on trade facilitation, revenue collection, protection of society and capacity building.
- Delegates also discussed the importance of measuring performance for various procedures related to cross border clearance and methodologies to be adopted. Referring to different global tools to measure performance including the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, it was debated that there must be a performance measure tool for the customs in WCO, which would enable the Customs Administrations to measure their performance on different areas related to clearance of import and export goods.
- The Chairman, CBIC and Member (Customs) had separate bilateral talks on the margins of the Session with different countries to deliberate on their mutual issues concerning customs. These countries included USA, UK, Iran, Uruguay, Uganda, Bahrain, Peru, South Korea, Brazil, New-Zealand, Russia and Nigeria. India and Peru signed an agreement for mutual cooperation. India and Uganda signed Joint Action Plan (JAP) for having Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for facilitating trade of Authorized Economic Operators(AEO) for two countries.
- The three day 80th Session of the Policy Commission Meeting of the WCO was organised by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC), Government of India in Mumbai, India, from 3rd to 5th December 2018.
- The Secretary General, WCO, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya along with other top officials of WCO and customs delegations from more than 30 countries from all over the world took part in discussions on various matters related to customs.
- WCO and all the Member countries thanked the CBIC for hosting this Policy Commission Session in India. Delegates thanked the Chief Commissioner (Mumbai-I), Shri Rajiv Tandon and his team for making all the logistic arrangements for the smooth conduct of the aforesaid three day Meeting of WCO.
About World Customs Organization
- The World Customs Organization (WCO), established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations.
- The Council is the governing body of the CCC and the inaugural Session of the Council was held in Brussels on 26 January 1953.
- After years of membership growth, in 1994 the Council adopted the working name World Customs Organization, to more clearly reflect its transition to a truly global intergovernmental institution. It is now the voice of 180 Customs administrations which operate on all continents and represent all stages of economic development. Today, WCO Members are responsible for processing more than 98% of all international trade.
- The WCO Secretariat, which is based in Brussels, Belgium
