This Sunday (26 January) is International Customs Day, an annual celebration of all things customs and international trade.
The event is held each year to commemorate the inaugural session of the World Customs Organization (WCO) in 1953, with the WCO choosing to highlight a topic that’s especially relevant to customs operations.
The theme of this year is ‘customs delivering on its commitment to efficiency, security and prosperity’.
Prosperity through trade
The WCO is an intergovernmental organisation comprised of 186 customs administrations that collectively process 98% of the world trade. Its mission is to foster cooperation and build capacity to facilitate safe, legitimate and prosperous trade through collaboration and harmonisation of customs rules.
If we look at some of the previous themes that the WCO has selected, International Customs Day aims to shine a light on how customs facilitates cross-border trade, focusing both on the current reality as well as how this might change in the future.
Previous topics have included digital customs, bolstering economic recovering after covid and nurturing the next generation of customs workers.
Importance
This year’s theme shows that through making customs processes more efficient, we can make borders more secure while also delivering greater economic prosperity worldwide.
This applies to both customs administrations as well as individual customs professionals, whether working in trade, as importers or exporters, or facilitating the customs clearance process.
Efficiency
Efficient customs processes at the border mean that cross-border goods’ movements happen without significant disruption. This can only be achieved if government systems are working effectively and business users have the correct procedures in place.
Simplified processes that are available to trusted traders through various customs authorisations allow for this efficient flow of goods, while also providing customs authorities with assurances of legitimate trade.
This allows customs to focus their attention on good flows with a much higher risk profile.
Customs processes are also used in the fight against international crime to ensure that cross-border movements are safe and secure. Aside from the dual threats of smuggling or illicit trade, it also guarantees the security of a product once it has hit the market.
Additionally, market surveillance policies, such as product safety regulations, are linked to the customs declaration process, with customs authorities tasked with checking compliance at the point goods are introduced to the customs territory.
Supply chain risks
Understanding the risks along your entire supply chain is important and can help guarantee trade prosperity.
New and developing technologies can help track the product from its origin along the entire supply chain, helping to build trust for everyone involved in imported and exporting goods.
This kind of trusted trade, which is efficient and secure, also fosters prosperity, which can be increased through optimisation of customs procedures, including facilitations such as duty suspension regimes or the use of duty preferences under trade agreements.
Challenges for trade and prosperity
The ability of customs administrations to help guarantee efficiency and prosperity does face its barriers.
On a global level, ensuring efficiency across various borders can be challenging, especially when new technologies are first introduced. Initially, new technology may cause disruption before it delivers the enhanced efficiency first promised.
Security can also be a challenge, as complicated and fragmented supply chains may reduce the visibility of a product’s journey, making it harder for companies to track and ultimately damaging trust.
The prospect of protectionism also remains, hindering prosperity with new measures and tariffs across the globe.
The UK customs industry faces a specific challenge at the border. There are many systems used by government and traders, each serving a different purpose but without a single point of entry, with the customs declaration being the common denominator.
However, without an actual connection between all of the systems ensuring efficiency and reducing the risk of disruptions remains challenging.
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