Customs

In line with the objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU),  a Joint WCO-UPU Customs-Post Workshop was organised in Guangzhou in the People’s Republic of China  last month on the topic "Fostering greater cooperation between Customs and Posts and promoting the development of cross-border e-commerce" for the Asia Pacific region.

The following statement was released by the WCO.

The Workshop was attended by over 100 participants representing Customs and designated postal operators from 33 countries.

The Workshop sought to improve participants’ knowledge of the relevant WCO and UPU instruments and tools and to strengthen the existing cooperative relationship between Customs and postal operators at a national level so as to enhance each other’s capabilities in facilitating postal items in a growing e-commerce environment whilst ensuring effective compliance with various regulatory requirements. It examined ways to promote advance electronic exchange of information (pre-loading/pre-arrival) between posts and Customs by using the UPU’s CDS and/or any other customised solutions.

Another important aspect of the workshop was the sharing of national experiences where Customs and postal officials delivered joint presentations on the existing situation regarding postal-Customs clearance and potential ways to improve it.