International Customs Day
JANUARY 26 is the International Customs Day, but in India that being a holiday on account of Republic Day, the Customs Day is celebrated on 27th January. This year, the WCO has decided to dedicate the International Customs Day with the theme, “ Customs and Business – Improving performance through Partnerships”
While last year's International Customs Day theme was “Customs and the Environment Protecting our Natural Heritage”, focusing on the protection of natural heritage which called for customs administrations around the world to be vigilant of illegal international trade that threatens wildlife and the environment, this year's theme is “Customs-Business Partnership”.
The 2010 International Customs Day will focus on recognising the relationships within that arena. During the World Customs Organisation's (WCO) Revenue Management Conference held in Belgium last month, Secretary-General at the WCO Kunio Mikuriya encouraged all customs administrations to think about possibilities to improve this partnership.
The secretary-general also highlighted that the customs-to-business partnership is not a choice, but a necessity, with partnerships founded on ethical principles and transparency.
Customs in the 21st century strategic policy has 10 building blocks of which several play a prominent role in trade facilitation. The fourth building block in the strategic policy is the customs-trade partnership.
According to Mikuriya, it is crucial to establish a meaningful dialogue between the public and private sector and the customs-business partnership serves as the basis of risk management.
In addition, the fifth block, modern working methods, is aimed at trade facilitation and simplifying procedures. The 10th block, is dedicated to integrity. The WCO outlines that effectively enhancing integrity also contributes to better revenue management.
Data analysis shows that corruption does not cause inefficiency, but rather inefficiency causes corruption, reads the statement, referring to a reduction of red tape not only beneficial for trade facilitation, but also helpful for integrity and revenue management.