World Customs Organization

The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The WCO works on customs-related matters including the development of international conventions, instruments, and tools on topics such as commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, supply chain security, international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating counterfeiting in support of intellectual property rights (IPR), illegal drug enforcement, combating counterfeiting of medicinal drugs,[2] illegal weapons trading, integrity promotion, and delivering sustainable capacity building to assist with customs reforms and modernization. The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature, and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.[3][4]

World Customs Organization
AbbreviationWCO
Formation26 January 1953 (1953-01-26)[1]
TypeIntergovernmental organization
Location
Membership
186 customs administrations
Official language
English and French
Secretary General
Ian Saunders (January 2024 - present)
Websitewww.wcoomd.org
Headquarters building

History

On 23 August 1947 the Committee for European Economic Cooperation created a European Customs Union Study Group (ECUSG) to examine economic and technical issues of inter-European Customs Union concerning the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In total, six ECUSG meetings were held in four years from November 1947 to June 1950.[5] This work of ECUSG led to the adoption in 1950 of the Convention establishing the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC), which was signed in Brussels. On 26 January 1953[1] the CCC's inaugural session took place with the participation of 17 founding members. CCC membership subsequently expanded to cover all regions of the globe. In 1994, the organization adopted its current name, the World Customs Organization. Today, WCO members are responsible for customs controls in 186 countries representing more than 98 percent of all international trade.[1]

Vision and objectives

The WCO is internationally acknowledged as the global centre of customs expertise and plays a leading role in the discussion, development, promotion and implementation of modern customs systems and procedures. It is responsive to the needs of its members and its strategic environment, and its instruments and best-practice approaches are recognized as the basis for sound customs administration throughout the world.

The WCO's primary objective is to enhance the efficiency effectiveness other members customs administrations, thereby assisting them to contribute successfully to national development goals, particularly revenue collection, national security, trade facilitation, community protection, and collection of trade statistics.

Instruments

In order to achieve its objectives, the WCO has adopted a number of customs instruments, including but not limited to the following:

  1. The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS Convention) was adopted in 1983 and came into force in 1988. The HS multipurpose goods nomenclature is used as the basis for customs tariffs and for the compilation of international trade statistics. It comprises about 5,000 commodity groups, each identified by a six digit code arranged in a legal and logical structure with well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification. The HS is also used for many other purposes involving trade policy, rules of origin, monitoring of controlled goods, internal taxes, freight tariffs, transport statistics, quota controls, price monitoring, compilation of national accounts, and economic research and analysis.
  2. The International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures (revised Kyoto Convention or RKC) was originally adopted in 1974 and was subsequently revised in 1999; the revised Kyoto Convention came into force in 2006. The RKC comprises several key governing principles: transparency and predictability of customs controls; standardization and simplification of the goods declaration and supporting documents; simplified procedures for authorized persons; maximum use of information technology; minimum necessary customs control to ensure compliance with regulations; use of risk management and audit based controls; coordinated interventions with other border agencies; and a partnership with the trade. It promotes trade facilitation and effective controls through its legal provisions that detail the application of simple yet efficient procedures and also contains new and obligatory rules for its application. The WCO revised Kyoto Convention is sometimes confused with the Kyoto Protocol, which is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC).
  3. ATA Convention and the Convention on Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention). Both the ATA Convention and the Istanbul Convention are WCO instruments governing temporary admission of goods. The ATA system, which is integral to both Conventions, allows the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a customs territory with relief from duties and taxes. The goods are covered by a single document known as the ATA carnet that is secured by an international guarantee system.
  4. The Arusha Declaration on Customs Integrity was adopted in 1993 and revised in 2003. The Arusha Declaration is a non-binding instrument which provides a number of basic principles to promote integrity and combat corruption within customs administrations.
  5. The SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade was adopted in 2005. The SAFE Framework is a non-binding instrument that contains supply chain security and facilitation standards for goods being traded internationally, enables integrated supply chain management for all modes of transport, strengthens networking arrangements between customs administrations to improve their capability to detect high-risk consignments, promotes cooperation between customs and the business community through the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, and champions the seamless movement of goods through secure international trade supply chains.
  6. The Columbus Program is a customs capacity building program works to promote customs modernization and implementation of their standards to secure and facilitate world trade. In 2005, the WCO adopted the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade, an international customs instrument containing 17 standards that promotes security and facilitation of the international supply chain. Because of its complexity, the WCO launched a capacity building program called the Columbus Programme which focuses on needs assessments for WCO Members using the WCO Diagnostic Framework tool. The WCO defines capacity building as "activities which strengthen the knowledge, abilities, skills and behaviour of individuals and improve institutional structures and processes such that the organization can efficiently meet its mission and goals in a sustainable way."

Online tools

The World Customs Organization (WCO) released a new online platform, WCO Trade Tools,[6] that encompasses the Harmonized System, preferential Rules of Origin and Valuation. It includes the 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022 editions of the HS, around 400 Free Trade Agreements with their preferential Rules of Origin/ and Product Specific rules, and the set list of Valuation texts, including those of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation.

Administration

The WCO Secretariat is headed by a Secretary General, who is elected by the WCO membership to a five-year term. Ian Saunders from the United States was elected WCO Secretary General in June 2023 and took office on 1 January 2024. The WCO is governed by the council, which brings together all members of the organization once a year, in a meeting chaired by an elected chairperson. Additional strategic and management guidance is provided by the Policy and Finance committees. There are several other WCO committees, including the Harmonized System Committee, the Permanent Technical Committee, the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, Technical Committee on Rules of Origin, the Capacity Building Committee, and the SAFE Working Group.

Members
RegionMemberDate Of Membership
South America, North America,

Central America and the Caribbean

 Antigua and Barbuda10/04/2017
Argentina01/07/1968
Bahamas16/08/1974
Barbados07/01/1999
Belize22/04/2008
Bermuda01/07/1990
Bolivia14/08/1997
Brazil19/01/1981
Canada12/10/1971
Chile01/07/1966
Colombia11/07/1993
Costa Rica29/08/2001
Cuba01/07/1988
Curaçao11/07/1988
Dominican Republic28/07/2004
Ecuador16/12/1997
El Salvador07/07/2005
Guatemala22/02/1985
Guyana29/07/1976
Haiti31/01/1958
Honduras08/12/2005
Jamaica29/03/1963
Mexico08/02/1988
Nicaragua24/09/1998
Panama08/03/1996
Paraguay03/10/1969
Peru27/01/1970
Saint Lucia12/05/2005
Suriname26/11/2018
Trinidad and Tobago15/10/1973
United States05/11/1970
Uruguay16/09/1977
Venezuela01/07/1996
Europe Albania31/08/1992
Andorra03/09/1998
Armenia30/06/1992
Austria21/01/1953
Azerbaijan17/06/1992
Belarus16/12/1993
Belgium11/12/1952
Bosnia and Herzegovina04/07/2008
Bulgaria01/08/1973
Croatia01/07/1993
Cyprus31/08/1967
Czech Republic01/01/1993
Denmark19/10/1951
Estonia18/06/1992
European Union*
Finland27/01/1961
France06/10/1952
Georgia26/10/1993
Germany04/11/1952
Greece10/12/1951
Hungary16/09/1968
Iceland15/02/1971
Ireland23/09/1952
Israel23/05/1958
Italy20/11/1952
Kazakhstan30/06/1992
Kyrgyzstan10/02/2000
Kosovo25/01/2017
Latvia22/06/1992
Lithuania18/06/1992
Luxembourg23/01/1953
Malta06/07/1968
Moldova28/10/1994
Montenegro24/10/2006
Netherlands23/01/1953
Norway06/08/1951
North Macedonia01/07/1994
Poland17/07/1974
Portugal26/01/1953
Romania15/01/1969
Russian Federation08/07/1991
Serbia27/03/2001
Slovakia01/01/1993
Slovenia07/09/1992
Spain13/07/1952
Sweden17/10/1952
Switzerland19/12/1952
Tajikistan01/07/1997
Türkiye (Republic of)06/06/1951
Turkmenistan17/05/1993
Ukraine26/06/1992
United Kingdom12/09/1952
Uzbekistan28/07/1992
East and Southern Africa Angola26/09/1990
Botswana25/08/1978
Burundi20/10/1964
Comoros01/07/1993
Djibouti19/03/2008
Eritrea08/08/1995
Eswatini15/05/1981
Ethiopia06/08/1973
Kenya24/05/1965
Lesotho02/08/1978
Madagascar18/02/1964
Malawi06/06/1966
Mauritius29/03/1973
Mozambique01/07/1987
Namibia01/07/1992
Rwanda03/03/1964
Seychelles25/07/2000
Somalia04/10/2012
South Africa24/03/1964
South Sudan18/07/2012
Tanzania07/11/1964
Uganda03/11/1964
Zambia27/09/1978
Zimbabwe19/03/1981
North of Africa, Near and Middle East Algeria19/12/1966
Bahrain18/04/2001
Egypt26/10/1956
Iraq06/06/1990
Jordan01/01/1964
Kuwait04/10/1993
Lebanon20/05/1960
Libya11/01/1983
Morocco01/07/1968
Oman11/09/2000
Palestine24/03/2015
Qatar04/05/1992
Saudi Arabia08/05/1973
Sudan08/06/1960
Syrian Arab Republic19/11/1959
Tunisia20/07/1966
United Arab Emirates07/02/1979
Yemen01/07/1993
West and Central Africa Benin09/11/1998
Burkina Faso16/09/1966
Cameroon09/04/1965
Cape Verde01/07/1992
Central African Republic28/07/1986
Chad16/02/2005
Congo (Republic of the)02/09/1975
Côte d'Ivoire02/09/1963
Democratic Republic of the Congo26/07/1972
Equatorial Guinea22/12/2021
Gabon18/02/1965
Gambia14/10/1987
Ghana01/08/1968
Guinea30/10/1991
Guinea-Bissau19/08/2010
Liberia07/01/1975
Mali07/08/1987
Mauritania02/10/1979
Niger01/07/1981
Nigeria21/08/1963
Sao Tome and Principe23/09/2009
Senegal10/03/1976
Sierra Leone06/11/1975
Togo12/02/1990
Far East, South and South East Asia,

Australasia and the Pacific Islands

 Afghanistan (Islamic Republic of)10/08/2004
Australia05/01/1961
Bangladesh01/07/1978
Bhutan12/02/2002
Brunei Darussalam01/07/1996
Cambodia03/04/2001
China18/07/1983
Fiji01/07/1997
Hong Kong, China01/07/1987
India15/02/1971
Indonesia30/04/1957
Iran (Islamic Republic of)16/10/1959
Japan15/06/1964
Korea (Republic of)02/07/1968
Lao People’s Democratic Republic16/01/2007
Macao, China07/07/1993
Malaysia30/06/1964
Maldives08/09/1995
Mongolia17/09/1991
Myanmar (The Republic of the Union of)25/03/1991
Nepal22/07/1986
New Zealand16/05/1963
Pakistan16/11/1955
Palau02/02/2024
Papua New Guinea18/03/2002
Philippines01/10/1980
Solomon Islands26/01/2023
Samoa01/10/2001
Singapore09/07/1975
Sri Lanka29/05/1967
Thailand04/02/1972
Timor-Leste19/09/2003
Tonga01/07/2005
Vanuatu17/11/2009
Vietnam01/07/1993

[7]

  • Status akin to WCO membership

References
  1. "Organización Mundial de Aduanas OMA" [World Customs Organization WCO]. Chile Aduanas (Customs) (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  2. Gelbart, Hannah (16 September 2021). "On the trail of fake medicine smugglers". BBC News.
  3. "La OMC y la Organización Mundial de Aduanas (OMA)" [The OMC and the World Customs Organization (WCO)]. WTO (in Spanish). Organización Mundial de Comercio. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  4. "Organización Mundial de Aduana (OMA) – Servicio Nacional de Aduana del Ecuador" (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  5. Kormych, Borys. "THE EUROPEAN CUSTOMS UNION STUDY GROUP: DRAFTING THE EU CUSTOMS LAW". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "World Customs Organization". www.wcoomd.org. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. World Custom Organization. https://www.wcoomd.org/. wcoomd https://www.wcoomd.org/-/media/wco/public/global/pdf/about-us/wco-members/list-of-members-with-membership-date.pdf?db=web. Retrieved 6 May 2024. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
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