The Second Meeting of the WCO Working Group on the Comprehensive Review of the Revised Kyoto Convention (WGRKC) took place in Brussels from 10 to 12 December 2018, launching substantive discussions on proposals developed by WCO Members for the comprehensive review of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).
“We received a wide range of proposals from Members which will lead the WGRKC into futuristic discussions about our flagship Convention, the RKC”, said WCO Deputy Secretary General Mr. Ricardo Treviño Chapa in his opening remarks. Mr. Treviño expressed his appreciation of seven Members who had worked hard to develop the valuable proposals, and acknowledged that this was a historic moment as Members were about to hold their first substantive discussions based on Members’ concrete proposals for the RKC.
Mr. Treviño also pointed out that at its 80th Session the Policy Commission had recognized the importance of engaging external stakeholders, including the Private Sector Consultative Group, in the comprehensive review of the RKC, and encouraged the WGRKC to involve them to the greatest possible extent, at an early date after having established a firm foundation for the engagement.
During the three days of the Meeting, the various WGRKC Sub-Groups discussed Members’ proposals which covered a wide range of subjects: monitoring/evaluation of the implementation of the RKC; periodical review mechanism; electronic submission of Customs declarations; Authorized Economic Operators (AEO); Customs role in Security; Risk Management; Single Window and WCO Data Model; Advance Electronic Information; passenger controls; advance rulings; publication and availability of information, etc. After futuristic and also practical discussions drawing on the Customs experts’ perspective and experience, the Sub-Groups agreed to place some of the proposals in “Track A” in order to move forward to more detailed proposals, while keeping others in Track B for the provision of further explanations and additional information by proponents.
The WGRKC decided to continue the discussions based on the concepts proposed by Members, together with certain other proposals which had been discussed in the RKC/MC in the past, and set an additional deadline of 21 February 2019 for the submission of proposals to be discussed at the WGRKC’s Fourth Meeting.
The WGRKC also held comprehensive discussions on the stakeholder engagement plan, highlighting the importance of involving external stakeholders including the trade community, Academia, related international organizations, etc. An understanding of the ongoing evolution of business and new emerging models ought to be adequately reflected in the 21st Century Customs model, as well as in the WCO’s flagship Convention. On the other hand, it was also considered important for Customs to discuss the proposals in order to establish the fundamentals of the comprehensive review of the RKC before inviting external stakeholders to offer their valuable inputs and proposals. In conclusion, the WGRKC assigned high importance to this Agenda item and decided to continue discussing it at forthcoming meetings.
“This meeting fruitfully discussed concrete proposals relating to the RKC”, said Mr. Luc De Blieck, Deputy Director in the WCO Secretariat’s Procedures and Facilitation Sub-Directorate. “The first step was very successful, but a lot of work still needs to be done and this Group will continue to work together for the next round of concrete proposals for the future of the RKC.” He concluded by thanking the Chairperson, the moderators of the Sub-Groups and the Members for their wonderful contributions.