Electronic commerce and its implications at a global level was the main topic developed during the Customs-Private Sector Dialogue (ACBD, APEC Customs Business Dialogue), held this Saturday 17.08.2019) within the framework of the Third Senior Representatives Meeting (SOM3) of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) 2019 in the Los Lagos Region, southern Chile.
Under the title “Cross-border electronic commerce and customs regulatory challenges”, this was the topic addressed through three panels by speakers and experts from the Ministry of Finance, the Customs of Chile, the United States and New Zealand, the Ministry of Economy of Mexico, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and companies such as UPS, Walmart, Intel and DHL, among others.
"This is a hot topic, which is being widely debated and which not only interests the National Customs Service of Chile, but also the entire society and all economies, both in APEC and the rest of the world. Cross-border e-commerce poses tremendous challenges in the regulatory and trade facilitation arenas.. Everything we have heard confirms that these challenges are still in force, and that we must move forward in aspects such as the harmonization of standards, effective security measures and, at the same time, facilitation." explained the National Director of Customs, José Ignacio Palma.
E-commerce, the export of services and the Integrated Foreign Trade System (SICEX) single window are priority issues for the Ministry of Finance, with the aim of contributing decisively to the economic development of the country through the generation of better tools for trade facilitation in accordance with the guidelines of multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the WCO.
The Trade Facilitation Coordinator of the Ministry of Finance, Joseph Nehme, who was one of the panelists, highlighted that “With Customs we have a very coordinated strategic work and we are together on different fronts because we have similar priorities: the importance of foreign trade, of facilitating but also being able to supervise, that the country be more productive, the modernization of postal deliveries or the challenges of electronic commerce. In that sense, I appreciate the invitation to participate in this panel because it allows us to continue advancing together.".
Regarding Customs activities within the framework of APEC 2019, José Ignacio Palma noted that “This is our third day in the Los Lagos Region and we are Very satisfied with the participation of both the public and private sectors. We have had not only a great turnout at the 3 meetings, but also a great interest in participating and sharing experiences. This is a tremendous logistical effort to coordinate the presence of the number of delegates and representatives who are in the region, and so far everything has developed not only normally, but with great success.".
Next up for the National Customs Service and representatives of the Customs of the APEC economies is the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures (SCCP) on August 18 and 19 in Puerto Varas.
During the two-day event, the work that began in February of this year to collaborate with the development of foreign trade will be concluded, among whose topics are the tools for the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and contributions to the initiative "Integration 4.0”, proposed by Chile as a priority for APEC Chile 2019.
The 21 economies that make up the 2019 APEC Forum together represent 40% of the world's population, 60% of global GDP and 50% of total trade. The 21 APEC members are Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; South Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Taipei, China; Thailand; United States and Vietnam.
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