REVISED KYOTO CONVENTION WILL COME INTO FORCE IN THREE MONTHS –INDIA RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HISTORIC EVENT
The revised Kyoto Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures will come into force in three months. For the convention is to come into force it was required that at least 40 members give their instrument of accession. The Kyoto Convention originally came into force on 25 September 1974. After undergoing an extensive five-year review involving all Customs and trade stakeholders, a revised Convention was adopted by the WCO Council on 30 June 1999. And the requisite magic number of 40 had not been reached till now. It has now been done with India’s Ambassador Dipak Chatterjee depositing India’s instrument of accession with the WCO. The Indian Cabinet had given its approval in the last week of September. Please see - 30 09 2005.
Implementation of this revised instrument extends the existing simplification and harmonization of Customs procedures to encompass even more Customs operations and contributes favourably to global trade facilitation efforts.
WCO Secretary General, Michel Danet, said:
“Not only will this revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) patently facilitate world trade even further; it will also provide more predictability to the business community and the international trading environment as a whole. The RKC represents the standards that Customs administrations will have to implement if they are to play a meaningful role in a world increasingly challenged by globalization, security concerns, and other international developments. This great event is living proof of the Customs community’s commitment to promote trade given its tangible benefit to social and economic development around the world”.
“These key elements include the maximum use of information technology, a partnership between Customs and the trade, the application of risk management techniques, the coordination of interventions with other agencies, and the provision of a system of appeal in Customs matters. With so many positive provisions, I am quite positive that entry into force of the RKC will act as a catalyst for many other WCO Members to deposit their Instruments of Accession in the near future”.
“The entry into force of the RKC will strengthen the hand of the WCO and ensure international recognition for Customs as an essential player at world trade facilitation negotiations”.
For those righteous leftists who are opposed to India joining any of these initiatives, China deposited its instrument of accession in 2000.