El Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, Ian Saunders, participated in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held from June 12 to 14, 2024, in Geneva (Switzerland), with a strong participation of world leaders.
As it announcedThe event aimed to shape a vision of inclusive prosperity amid global crises, trade disruptions, rising debt burdens and the severe impact of climate change on developing countries.
At the meeting, Secretary-General Saunders addressed a panel with senior officials and experts. As a knowledge- and capacity-based organization, the WCO stressed “the guidance and support it provides to drive the digitalization of customs to facilitate legitimate trade, ensure security and collect revenues appropriately, all of which enable international trade to have a positive impact on economies, livelihoods and lives.”
He added: “In order to meet this challenge, the digitalisation and harmonisation of customs procedures is being encouraged. A key element of our Strategic Plan is technological innovation, i.e. the full digitalisation of customs clearance, the use of data analytics and seamless data exchange.”
He also explained that the use of ICTs is key to the Revised Kyoto Convention and gave a concrete example of digitalisation: automated risk management, used to reduce physical inspections. This digitalisation helps society and integrity: legitimate trade, because high-risk shipments are identified.
The WCO also encourages “associated digitalisation between customs and other border agencies”, for which “the use of the single window eliminates redundancies and facilitates participation in trade”.
In closing his remarks, Secretary-General Saunders praised the “close cooperation” between the WCO and UNCTAD in the area of trade facilitation and encouraged them to continue along the same path in the coming decades. And together with world leaders, he also echoed the recognition that Trade and Development have today in the United Nations: “are more relevant than ever.”
It is recalled that both organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2022 to update the Memorandum dating back to 2013, with the aim of supporting the modernization of customs by enabling interoperability between UNCTAD's Automated Customs Data System (ASYCUDA) and the WCO Cargo Identification System (CTS), the National Customs Control Network (nCeN) and the Time Clearance Study (TRS).
The ministerial session is available at UN-TV (1,35 minute)
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