The Vice President of the WCO for the Americas and the Caribbean, Werner Ovalle, participated today (18.05.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX) in the VII Latin American Anti-Smuggling Alliance Meeting organized by the National Association of Industrialists of Honduras, where he stressed the need to generate a “culture of legality” and “safe trade” for strategic partners.
“Customs is fighting smuggling because it creates unfair competition, and we invite everyone to comply with their obligations,” the WCO representative encouraged participants in the dialogue space generated by the private sector and broadcast live on YouTube.
In another part of the exhibition, he highlighted that ““The approach to illicit trade must be carried out in an integrated and regional manner”. In this regard, he referred to the Cooperation between customs and other national public authorities (the police, the ministries of agriculture and health), as well as with authorities from other countries.
Werner Ovalle cited the case of Central America as an example: “In the Central American Customs Committee we have created strategies to carry out simultaneous operations with specific objectives, we have created action plans and we have had several seizures because the authorities exchange information,” he said. He also stressed that “the fight against illicit trade is a priority issue.”
During another part of his presentation, he elaborated on the first pillar of the WCO SAFE Regulatory Framework, referring to customs-customs cooperation. In this regard, he said that the exchange of information made it possible to observe that the contraband goods that are entering are those from blind passages or uncontrolled border crossings; customs fraud is also being tackled.
“Customs fraud is a bad practice that some foreign trade actors have regarding incorrect valuation, classification or failure to declare the true origin of the goods. To this end, we are implementing more actions to position technology issues, train staff and act on the basis of international best practices,” he stressed.
And he announced: “Today we will sign a mutual recognition agreement with 11 customs administrations: 8 from South America, 2 from Central America and 1 from the Caribbean; the agreement involves the exchange of information, the generation of computer platforms and the articulation with trade facilitation mechanisms.”
“Customs is working for those actors who have a good tax and customs level, in order to facilitate trade and reduce complaints related to customs fraud. The response we are giving is comprehensive,” Ovalle concluded his presentation.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
