Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, inaugurated this Wednesday (05.10.2022) the symposium cycle qualified «Envisioning a greener Harmonized System (HS) to support environmentally sustainable trade", an activity organised with the support of the European Union.
At the opening of the first debate focused on the topic «Expanding food horizons and recognizing agricultural diversity for sustainable global food securityKunio Mikuriya said the symposium series will seek concrete ideas for making the 2027 edition of the Harmonized System “greener.” The nomenclature makes it possible to accurately identify goods and check which tariff lines and standards apply, and provides statistics; therefore, it is an important tool for implementing a range of border policy measures, including environmental ones.
“This is a way of providing real support through the Harmonized System to the United Nations General Assembly's Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said the head of the WCO in his welcoming remarks. more than 200 participants customs administrations, international governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and the private sector who joined the event virtually.
He also commented that these debates, focused on the chapters of the Harmonized System, are part of the work of the WCO reflected in the Strategic Plan for 2022-2025, as well as, are the result of the Green Customs Conference, carried out last June.
In line with such comments, Director General for Taxation and Customs Union of the European Commission, Gerassimos Thomas, stressed the importance of the customs community adapting to such challenges. Regarding this, he said: “With this kind of participation we can find not only the right attention but also concrete solutions to make the Harmonized System greener by 2027.”
Meanwhile, Paulo De Lima, spoke on behalf of the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and welcomed the cooperation between the two organizations within the framework of the Harmonized System. While acknowledging the progress made in the latest revisions of the Harmonized System, it noted that much remains to be done to ensure that the Harmonized System contributes to environmental protection and food security.
Thus, the Deputy Director of the WCO's Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, Gael Grooby, who was moderating the panel, noted that the presentations would be followed by an open discussion and encouraged “big ideas” such as “practical suggestions.” He also clarified that the panel dialogue will be deepened and expandedwill be within the review cycle of the Harmonized System.
The first speaker, Marcio Castro de Souza, Senior Fisheries Officer, Secretary of the FAO Sub-Committee on Fish Trade and Coordinator of the GLOBEFISH Project, discussed the main changes and the latest trends in international trade of the fisheryIt also looked at some of the specific product areas where subheadings could be created to assist a sustainability-focused national policy on fishery and aquaculture products.
The second speaker, Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Ragn-Sells Group and Co-Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce's Working Group on the Circular Economyl (ICC), shared practical examples of how innovative processing of waste could return nutrients and components to the agricultural cycle. This could have multiple benefits for both the circular economy and the environment, such as the possibility of greatly reducing the need to extract finite resources such as phosphorus. “It is part of a circular transition to provide the world with the food that people need,” he said. However, he clarified that such innovation would be greatly hampered if there was not a swift update of legislation and the removal of trade barriers in relation to high-quality raw materials obtained from what is considered waste.
The third speaker, David Kozik, Customs Policy and Classification Officer at the Directorate General for Taxation and Customs of the European Commission, explored how to broaden food horizons through agricultural diversity for sustainable global food security. In this regard, it presented some examples of amendments in the context of food product diversity, in particular concerning organic foods and alternatives to animal products, among others.
At closing, the Director of the WCO Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, Konstantinos Kaiopoulos, urged users of the Harmonized System to continue with discussions to expand this language of international trade and make it the supporting language for sustainable international trade.
Upcoming debates
| «Chemicals: reflecting the good, the bad and the revolutionary”, scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, 2022. (12:00 – 15:00 CET) |
| “The textile industry: the interaction between textiles and the environment”, scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2022 (12:00 – 15:00 CET) |
| “Reflect the life cycle of basic materials – plastics, metals, wood and other sustainable alternatives,” scheduled for Thursday, December 1, 2022 (12:00 – 15:00 CET) |
| “The environmental credentials of technology: can we identify the green status of equipment?” scheduled for Monday, January 23, 2023 (12:00 – 15:00 CET). |
| For additional information, please consult the World Customs Organization websitenose |
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