Customs Cooperation Priorities in APEC 2017

This was the first activity organised by the General Department of Vietnam Customs and funded by the United States Agency for International Development to start a series of preparatory activities of the APEC Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures (SCCP 2017). At APEC Peru 2016, the meeting of the APEC Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures on the sidelines of SOM 3 (SCCP 2) was successfully concluded and Vietnam, the Chair of APEC SCCP Vietnam 2017, took over the chairmanship from the Chair of APEC SCCP 2016.

 

Deputy General Director of the General Department of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Cong Binh said the responsibility and strength of getting united with international and regional customs forces need to be enhanced to ensure the lifeline security for the area of strategic importance like Asia - Pacific. Especially, in the current context, the world is faced with numerous security issues in the fight against terrorism, illegal migration and control of goods movement against the backdrop of increasingly complicated and sophisticated smuggling and drug trafficking; trade security challenges in the digital era; or pressures on sustainable economic growth to adapt to climate change.

 

Determined priorities of APEC SCCP 2017 will include capacity building, ratification and enforcement of the Trade Facilitation Agreement by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); and strengthened supply chain connectivity framework where customs transit is emphasised. At the same time, completing the single-widow mechanism to accelerate administrative reform for trade facilitation is also a priority.

 

Besides, prioritises will include developing priority business programmes and strengthening business - customs partnership to create opportunities of enhancing competitiveness for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the digital era; further boosting information technology development and applying risk management and pre-arrival information analysis which is crucial technical measures to customs reform and modernisation; facilitating trade by enhancing cross-border e-commerce development; encouraging APEC members to build databases and share data and information and developing strong cooperative mechanism to stimulate information exchange between customs authorities and service providers. Another priority in customs cooperation is strengthening enforcement of cross-border intellectual property rights protection to encourage growth innovation, secure global supply chains and promote investment.

 

In 2017, APEC SCCP will also continue to discuss nine most updated contents in the Collective Action Plan (CAP), of which three contents that Vietnamese customs authorities registered for coordinating participation are early determination, pre-arrival information and express delivery procedures.

 

At the workshop, attendants were given APEC SCCP reports, e.g. main themes and priorities of APEC 2017, Vietnam’s roles and cooperation activities concerning APEC trade facilitation; APEC customs cooperation in recent years, customs priorities in APEC economies, SCCP collective action programmes, concerns of the private sector about APEC customs issues and expected priorities at APEC SCCP 2017.