One of the legacies that the pandemic will leave us is the massification of electronic commerce, as part of an accelerated advance. In view of this expansion, the World Customs Organization (WCO) released the key documents that support the implementation of the Framework of Standards on Cross-Border Electronic Commerce (E-commerce FoS).
The documents published today (22.12.2020), agreed by the Council and the Policy Commission, the highest institutions of the WCO, are: Reference datasets for cross-border e-commerce, Revenue Raising Approaches, E-commerce stakeholders: roles and responsibilities, a document on a PTC decision on Cross-border e-commerce FoS maintenance/upgrade mechanism and the first edition of Compendium of e-commerce case studies. Furthermore, the Policy Committee and the Council took note of progress in the area of cross-border e-commerce, including the finalisation by the Standing Technical Committee, in June 2020, of performance indicators for possible monitoring and evaluation of the E-Commerce FoS and its implementation.
The WCO notes that “the E-Commerce FoS provides 15 global benchmark standards with a focus on advanced electronic data exchange for effective risk management and further facilitation of the growing volumes of business-to-consumer (B2C) and small and low-value cross-border consumer-to-consumer (C2C) shipments, through simplified procedures with respect to areas such as clearance, revenue collection and return, in close collaboration with e-commerce stakeholders.” It also “encourages the use of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, non-intrusive inspection (NII) equipment, data analytics and other cutting-edge technologies to support safe and sustainable cross-border e-commerce.”
The e-commerce package contains technical specifications for cross-border e-commerce FoS, definitions, trade business models and e-commerce flowcharts, implementation strategy, action plan and capacity building mechanism, which have now been complemented by the documents on reference data sets for cross-border e-commerce, revenue collection approaches and e-commerce stakeholders: roles and responsibilities.
The document on Reference datasets for cross-border e-commerce It is evolving and non-binding and can serve as a guide for WCO members and relevant stakeholders for possible pilot projects and implementation of cross-border FoS e-commerce.
The Revenue Raising Approaches They have been designed to describe existing models, with the aim of providing a better understanding of them.
In addition, the document on E-commerce stakeholders: roles and responsibilities It provides a clear description of the responsibilities and roles of e-commerce stakeholders for the transparent and predictable cross-border movement of goods, and does not impose additional obligations on the parties involved.
Finally, the WCO indicates that “the first edition of the Compendium of case studies on e-commerce It compiles seventeen case studies and supports Members with practical examples of how each country addresses priority issues such as advance electronic data exchange, facilitation, protection and revenue collection (including de minimis levels).
For more details, visit the website: http://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/facilitation/instrument-and-tools/frameworks-of-standards/ecommerce.aspx
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