The World Customs Organization (WCO) has published a set of guidelines to assist customs administrations in their task of facilitating and securing the cross-border movement of critical COVID-19 vaccines.
In the statement released this Friday (26.02.2021), it is clarified that the WCO Secretariat announced a Note dated February 25, 2021 which provides the following:
orientations
- An practical Guide regarding the implementation by Members of the twelve measures outlined in the Council Resolution of December 2020. It refers to the role of customs in facilitating the cross-border movement of medicines and vaccines, which is critical to the situation.
- Information about WCO instruments and tools which can support the implementation of the above-mentioned Resolution. It contains examples of Members' practices on this subject.
In this regard, the Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, stated that “The customs community must be well prepared and add value to global efforts to ensure the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally by facilitating and securing the cross-border movement of vaccines, as well as related supplies and equipment.”
The WCO's top authority added: “This is the time to act and We urge all WCO members to consult the guidance and the information provided by the Secretariat, in order to implement measures and solutions quickly and efficiently.”
Coordinated approach
The communication clarifies that the publication of the Secretariat Note is being done in coordination with other interested agencies. This comes less than a week after the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator received over USD 4300 billion in new investments from G7 leaders, and just one day after the world witnessed the first shipment of vaccines to Africa through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX). ACT is a groundbreaking new global collaborative initiative to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.
Dynamic Document
The global customs community reminds that the guidance released is a living document that will be improved with practice. It will provide further guidance as members share information on customs clearance of COVID-19 vaccines, related supplies and equipment.
At the end of release, the WCO announces that the first edition of the guidance provided will be presented to the Permanent Technical Committee Sessions on 19 April 2021.
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