WCO ACTION PLAN FOR THE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS PACKAGE

Transcription

1 WCO ACTION PLAN FOR THE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS PACKAGE Overview The Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP) was endorsed at the 119 th /120 th Sessions of the WCO Council, with three core goals : (1) elaboration and communication of the WCO instruments and tools to stakeholders; (2) more WCO Members acceding to the RKC; and (3) more WCO Members implementing the WCO instruments and tools. At the Council Sessions, the establishment of the ECP Action Plan was also agreed to implement and develop the ECP. The draft ECP Action Plan stipulates concrete actions which are crucial for the accomplishment of the three above-mentioned goals, the development of the ECP and the enhancement of the economic competitiveness of WCO Members. The draft Action Plan also indicates deadlines where appropriate and shows the bodies responsible for the specific actions. The draft Action Plan consists of 21 actions, divided into the following 4 areas : (1) Awareness-raising and Members needs assessment. (2) Promotion of existing instruments and tools. (3) Collection and dissemination of innovative and best practices. (4) Development and elaboration of the ECP. 1. AWARENESS-RAISING AND MEMBERS NEEDS ASSESSMENT The WCO has already developed a range of instruments and tools relevant to the growth of economic competitiveness, and the ECP lists them. The Revised Kyoto Convention (International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures as amended) is recognized as being at the core of the existing instruments and tools. It outlines the principles of simplification and modernization of Customs procedures and fulfils the role of the key international Convention for the modernization of a Customs administration. Other WCO instruments and tools, such as the Time Release Study (TRS) Guide, the SAFE Framework of Standards, the Risk Management Compendium and the Single Window Compendium provide WCO Members with guidelines for further trade facilitation. In this regard, raising awareness of the usefulness of WCO instruments and tools is very important in order to enhance the economic competitiveness of WCO Members. Through awareness-raising activities, we may get closer to the first core goal : the elaboration and communication of the WCO instruments and tools to stakeholders. In addition to awareness-raising, assessment of Members needs is included in this area. Considering the fact that WCO Members needs in respect of the ECP are very different, the adequate assessment of such needs is definitely important for the implementation and the

2 development of the ECP. In parallel with awareness-raising activities such as regional meetings, workshops and seminars, the WCO will continuously collect and assess Members needs regarding the ECP. 1 Use of meetings held in the regions to raise awareness and collect Members needs WCO 2 Organization of regional workshops/seminars in all WCO regions to promote the ECP WCO June Publication of useful materials for awareness-raising, such as a pamphlet on the ECP 4 Continue needs assessment to identify gaps and needs through coordination at regional level and continuation of capacity building and technical assistance, including by making use of diagnostic mission reports as allowed by the countries concerned WCO WCO, Regional Vice-Chairs, Regional Offices for Capacity Building 2. PROMOTION OF EXISTING INSTRUMENTS AND TOOLS Actions included in this area are aimed essentially at promoting the RKC and other existing WCO instruments and tools. These actions are linked to two of the three core goals : more WCO Members acceding to and implementing the RKC, and more WCO Members implementing the WCO instruments and tools. As previously mentioned, the WCO has already developed an array of instruments and tools which provide valuable assistance to Customs in facilitating trade. Therefore, their adequate implementation would progress WCO Members efforts to enhance their economic competitiveness. In particular, the RKC needs to be promoted at the highest political level as it is the main instrument that promotes modern Customs procedures and is the basis for many other tools developed by the WCO. The draft Action Plan presupposes that the priority areas differ considerably among the WCO regions. The promotion of WCO instruments and tools should take such differences into consideration. To identify the regional priorities and necessary activities more clearly, Regional Strategic Plans will be adopted. Furthermore, the implementation of the existing WCO instruments and tools is a matter of Members capacity. Therefore, capacity building is recognized as an essential element.

3 5 Adoption of Regional Strategic Plans to identify regional priorities and necessary activities Regional Vice-Chairs, Regional Offices for Capacity Building June Capacity building to support the implementation of the WCO s existing instruments and tools 7 Accreditation of more experts to enhance capacity building activities 8 Holding regional donor coordination meetings 9 The development/modification of RKC Guidelines 10 Organization of regional seminars and workshops to encourage more Members to accede to and implement the RKC 11 Consultation with Members to assess the priority of encouraging implementation of instruments and tools other than the RKC (e.g. SAFE and CBM) WCO WCO WCO Management Committee on RKC WCO, accredited experts, WCO Members and other relevant entities WCO, WCO Members 12 Preparation and launch of an e-learning module on the RKC WCO June COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF INNOVATIVE AND BEST PRACTICES At the 119 th /120 th Sessions of the WCO Council, the was advised, among other suggestions, to include innovative and best practice examples in the ECP. Given that a number of Members offered to share their experiences, techniques and performance benchmarks, the purpose of actions in this area is to engage Members, as well as representatives of private sector groups, and involve them in the collection and dissemination of innovative and best practices. In this section, four specific areas are highlighted in terms of the collection of innovative and best practices : Informal Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Coordinated Border Management (CBM) and Transit. It is expected that new tools or instruments will be developed

4 for these areas, based on the innovative and best practices collected, as well as other focal areas once assessed and prioritized. Innovative and best practices on the WCO s existing instruments and tools collected in the context of this Action Plan will be compiled as a part of the ECP. 13 Collection and dissemination of Informal Trade 14 Collection and dissemination of CBM 15 Holding Research Conference on Informal Trade Practices WCO June Collection and dissemination of SMEs 17 Collection and dissemination of Transit 18 Collection and dissemination of other facilitation areas, such as risk management, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), client service delivery, post clearance audit, Customs-Trade partnership and supply chain security 4. DEVELOPMENT AND ELABORATION OF THE ECP According to the Council at its 119 th /120 th Sessions, the Action Plan should be established not only for the implementation but also for the development of the ECP. Together with the actions under section 1 (Awareness-Raising and Members' needs assessment), which will assist in identifying which additional tools might have to be developed, the actions in this section aim to prepare a new instrument or tool that may constitute a part of the ECP. In 2009, the WCO launched the Customs in the 21 st Century strategy, in which the building blocks for the WCO s strategic direction were given. The WCO has also developed the Revenue Package, which consists of all tools and instruments relevant to revenue collection. The development and implementation of ECP are crucially important for the realization of

5 building blocks in the Customs in the 21 st Century strategy. It is essential that the ECP has synergy effects with the Revenue Package and other WCO initiatives. It is necessary to establish a mechanism for the steady implementation of this Action Plan. To this end, the PTC will have regular reports on elaboration and communication of the WCO instruments and tools to stakeholders, with respect to WCO activities related to the Action Plan. 19 Development of new WCO instruments and tools for ECP, based on the collection of innovative and best practices, as well as gap analysis Related WCO committees or working groups December Further analysis on the ECP to support Customs in the 21 st Century which includes Customs-Trade Partnership and CBM as well as the contribution of Customs to economic competitiveness, including revenue collection and societal protection WCO 21 Regular reporting to the Permanent Technical Committee WCO, virtual working group on ECP PTC sessions (twice a year)