At the invitation of the President of the International Customs Law Academy (ICLA), the World Customs Organization (WCO) participated at the XIII World Customs Law meeting held in Rome, Italy, from 6 to 8 September 2017. The topic for this years’ meeting was “Customs law and the emergence of nationalist policies of regional disintegration. Multilateralism or Protectionism?”
The meeting was attended by 175 participants from Customs Administrations, International Organizations, Private Sector and Academia. A wide range of topics were discussed including measures to encourage participation in international trade of Least Developed Countries (LDC), the European Union Customs Code, the Customs Brokers challenges to the new environment, Customs Compliance, Authorized Economic Operator, amongst others.
The WCO addressed how Capacity Building can support the Customs Administrations thru the instruments and tools of the WCO, specifically with the WCO Mercator Programme. Additionally, the WCO presented the work done by the Secretariat with regards to E-Commerce, including the outcomes of the E-Commerce Working Group and the WCO Study Report on Cross-Border E-Commerce.