Study pushes for speedy cross-border customs procedures

‘Concentrate resources on illegitimate traders’ ALAN PEAT THE RULES of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are necessary for consistent reform, according to a study by the trade consultancy arm of Deloittes. “Such rules would build upon the WTO principles of non-discrimination, transparency and least-trade restrictiveness - and would strengthen disciplines already contained in existing WTO Agreements.” The report also points out that the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recommended that the WTO analyse the impact of customs-related controls on trade - and reduce them where appropriate. This, said Deloittes, by focusing on certain key trade facilitation objectives. There should be transparent conduct by customs, with easily accessible procedures and regulations, said the ICC - including an open, independent and economic appeal process for customs decisions, and open to all importers. Legitimate traders should be granted an authorisation. This would allow operators to cross national borders with minimal interference, and to use pre-arrival declarations and post release audits, so enabling customs to concentrate their resources on the key target - illegitimate trade at the border. There should be a measurement of clearance time at the frontier, and targets should be introduced to encourage governments to reduce their clearance times. The ICC also recommends that modern customs techniques - such as risk assessment and profiling - should be used. This would enable administrations to make direct resource gains whilst reducing the time for legitimate trade to cross borders.