Sergei Mozer
On December 15, 2023, the Department of International Economic Relations of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) organized an open lecture on the topic “Current issues of improving customs regulation in the EAEU: international legal aspect.”
The Strategic Trade Control Enforcement Implementation Guide has been the backbone of the STCE programme since its inception in 2016. The latest update of the Guide is currently available in English, and it contains, among other things, updated HS codes of strategic commodities, as well as new Annexes on Post Control Audit and Investigations. Other language versions will follow in 2024.
The WCO is pleased to launch an updated edition of its Gender Equality Organizational Assessment Tool (GEOAT). Originally launched in 2014, this self-assessment tool aims at assisting Customs and Revenue Administrations in assessing their policies and practices both internally (related to, for instance, human resource management) and externally (in their border operations and stakeholder relations) to further incorporate gender equality and diversity on a cross-cutting basis within their administrations.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) has published a comprehensive study detailing the digitalization of the Certificate of Origin (CO). This Study focuses on the practices of WCO Members in origin certification, emphasizing the digital transformation of the origin-related process. It aims to highlight both the challenges and success factors encountered by Members in this transition.
International experts note that digital technologies have made it increasingly feasible for buyers and sellers to place and receive orders on a global scale. They also enable the instantaneous remote delivery of services directly into businesses and homes, including internationally.
UNCTAD mentions that measuring e-commerce is a prerequisite for understanding its economic role and contribution to GDP, employment, and development, as well as for evidence-based policymaking. Beyond total e-commerce, the distinction between domestic and cross-border e-commerce is important to understand to what extent e-commerce contributes to exports and imports. The UNCTAD Secretariat has received various enquiries from countries asking for guidance and support to measure the monetary value of e-commerce and digitally ordered trade.
Sergei Mozer
On November 21, the “Science Week 2023” of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Customs Academy began its work, which lasted from November 21 to 23. Science Week events are intended for scientists, specialists and officials of external organizations and institutions, customs authorities of the Russian Federation and include a plenary session and work of sections, which are organized using remote technologies on the on-line platform “Yandex Telemost ” .
17th October 2023, By Dilyana Gencheva, Bulgarian Customs
WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023 > Dossier: Focus on the port environment
Bulgaria has been a fully-fledged Member State of the European Union (EU) since 1 January 2007 and exerts controls over one of the external maritime borders of the EU with the Black Sea, in accordance with EU Customs policies. The number of inbound and outbound container units going through its largest maritime port, the Port of Varna, has grown steadily over the past 10 years (see Figure 1) but represents a minor part of the flows of goods entering or leaving the European Union through its maritime borders. Most goods entering Bulgaria by sea are released for internal circulation or are in transit to neighbouring EU countries. Transboundary movements to non-EU countries and transshipment operations are an exception.
By Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General, Dubai Customs
Transforming trade: how Dubai Customs is harnessing AI for enhanced trade facilitation and border control (WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023 > Panorama)
At a meeting of the Subcommittee on Customs Cooperation and Trade Facilitation, the Eurasian Economic Commission (Comission) and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, on the one hand, and the General Customs Administration of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on the other, considered current issues of interaction. They discussed the development of digital (smart) customs and the introduction of advanced customs technologies, the “single window” mechanism, improving the institution of “authorized economic operator”, implementation of electronic document management during transit in the Union, as well as the implementation of the “Eurasian agroexpress “.
