At the invitation of the Secretariat of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, Mr. Ricardo Treviño Chapa, WCO Deputy Secretary General, attended the ITF Summit 2018 held in Leipzig, Germany, from 23 to 25 May 2018.

The ITF Summit 2018 is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers, and the main event on global transport policy, with around 1400 decision-makers from more than 80 countries in attendance, with some thirty Ministers as well as representatives from governments, business, international organizations and academia.

This year’s theme was “Transport Safety and Security” addressing issues ranging from terrorism and cyber-security to road safety in extreme weather conditions, and safety in the supply chain.

The Deputy Secretary General Treviño Chapa participated in the panel “Ensuring secure and resilient supply chains”, which explored the trade-offs between supply chain resilience, efficiency and sustainability. The discussions focused on problems that actors within the supply chain are facing, how best to address them and, how some of the approaches taken could result in greater supply chain sustainability with a positive environmental impact.

Deputy Secretary General Treviño Chapa discussed the concept of “Digital Customs” and explained how the WCO promotes the use of technology by Customs administrations. The SAFE Framework of Standards, the Single Window concept, the WCO’s Data Model, and the Time Release Study are effective tools that can greatly contribute to securing and strengthening the supply chain.

The WCO is constantly updating and developing tools to support Members’ efforts to address modern challenges and adapt to international trade trends and business models. In this regard, the WCO, through its research unit, initiates discussions and provides insight on a number of important topics.

The recent paper on “Big Data for Customs and how it can support risk management capabilities” was warmly welcomed by the Customs community and the WCO is currently working on another paper on disruptive technologies, such as blockchains, to help Customs to be better prepared for the future.

While in Leipzig, Deputy Secretary General Treviño met with Mr. Christian Labrot, the President of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), as well as with representatives of the Transportation Research Board and Panteia, a research institute specialized in transport and mobility, covering, in particular, research into logistics and the time spent on cross-border procedures.