The 2013 WCO IT Conference and Exhibition concluded its third roundtable discussing ways through which customs departments, the government and the private sector can work together to integrate and secure the international trade supply chain.
The roundtable, moderated by Roberto Tavano, Global Vice President, Security and Technology Sales, Unisys, drew the participation of Samir Mubarak, Director of Business Development, Nafez; Tom Barnes, Chief Executive Officer, Integration Point; Erkan Saka, Nuclear Trade Analyst at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and David Avzyk, Deputy Director of Post Technology Center at the Universal Post Union (UPU).
Opening the discussion, Tom Barnes underscored the technological benefits arising from a collaborative experience with the private sector. He said: “With our expertise, we are able to offer specialized tools to deal with import and export declarations smoothly. Our solutions work within specific country standards. One of the most important programs we implemented in this regard is the customs communication systems that aid the private sector.”
Speaking on data management solutions, Barnes added: “We provide specialized solutions to transfer data from one point to the other. We provide data for the importer, and finalize important declarations that in turn offer data for the exporter. This information can additionally be used by the export-import authorities. What is worth mentioning is that each document carries a unique code making the data easily accessible.”
Erkan Saka said: “Our organization is tasked with two main roles. One is to help member-states use nuclear energy in a safe, secure and peaceful manner. Secondly, we ensure the member-states follow international regulations in the use of nuclear energy. Some of the challenges we face include the fact that nuclear materials are easy to find and trade, outside our supervision. For example, the incidence of transit of illicit nuclear materials touched 50 last year, of which 26 cases involved the transfer of uranium. Alternatively, the lack of unified rules across customs department in the trade of nuclear materials poses a serious challenge.”
He added: “We encourage our partners to collaboratively work with government authorities, including the customs departments, financial sector, nuclear power sectors, security departments, police, intelligence and specialized agencies to ensure successful trade operations of nuclear materials.”
Juxtaposing the customs challenges faced specifically in postal systems globally, David Avzyk said: “The postal structure involves a number of very small transactions undertaken by big players as well as smaller individual players without accurate knowledge of the carriage processes. In such a situation it becomes difficult to filter the goods requiring customs declaration from the whole. Our solution to this issue is a technological system of customs declaration that is well integrated with the postal system, which additionally counters the manual element in the process that causes a great extent of delay. We have developed a module to deliver these results.”
The outcomes of the roundtable complemented deliberations during a session titled ‘TechTalk’ held on day-two of the event. The segment saw key officials from customs departments of various countries and specialists in the technology sector highlight the successes and challenges of deploying advanced technological solutions across the entire breadth of the customs sector for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Panelists pointed out that, presently, around 90 percent of documentation associated with global trade is still conducted through traditional paperwork, despite the progress made in migrating to sophisticated electronic platforms in certain countries such as the UAE. A paramount concern for several countries related to such migration is the potential for fraud associated with the documents. However, such concerns can be met by implementing best international practices based on the ICC World Chambers Federation’s Certificate of Origin guidelines to strengthen relations between local and GCC chambers, and through raising awareness among staff on the obstacles and risks involved.
Speaking at the TechTalk, Atiq Juma Faraj Nasib, Senior Director, Commercial Services Sector at the Dubai Chamber, said that the sheer volume of customs-related paperwork being handled by the GCC was reason enough for member states to step up migration to an integrated, electronic system of border management, especially in the area of certificates of origin. He added: “In 2012 alone, Dubai Chamber issued 700,000 certificates of origin– which are aligned to international best practices – to around 165 countries, but they are not recognized by all our trading partner countries. So, there is a clear need to work towards building acceptance of e-services among all stakeholders.”