According to the WCO, more than 175 delegates attended the first meeting of the WCO Working Group on e-Commerce which was held at the WCO headquarters in Brussels from 21 to 23 September 2016 to discuss in an open and constructive manner opportunities and challenges stemming from the growing trade in e-commerce, in particular, cross-border low-value business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) shipments, from both a trade facilitation and a control perspective.
Representatives of e-commerce platforms presented their business models, their roles and responsibilities, and the solutions they have built to offer a safe environment to sellers and buyers, as well as potential opportunities in terms of direct data exchange between e-commerce actors and Customs administrations in order to enhance risk management capacities and data quality.
New revenue collection models which would allow all duties and taxes to be collected more efficiently were explored, with discussions also touching on the de minimis threshold for duties and taxes, the rationale behind such a measure, and the latest policy changes in this domain in some countries, aimed at preventing potential revenue loss and fraud.
The criminal exploitation of e-commerce was also tackled, with speakers from law enforcement bodies and a research institute presenting available guidance, existing tools and investigation practices to fight the illegal use of the internet and, in particular, the ”darkweb” – the portion of the web only accessible through special browsers that guarantee anonymity.
According to the WCO, participants agreed that e-commerce has changed the landscape for Customs: from a few well known importers and exporters, it now has to manage a large number of e-enabled exporters and importers that are not well-known, and which transactions may be irregular. Risk is now diffused, and finding practical solutions will require the input of all actors involved, the newly established Working Group concluded its inaugural meeting with much motivation for the exciting future work.