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30 April 2020
The WCO continues its close cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) to contribute to the rapid cross-border movement of medical supplies and medicines needed urgently during the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Following the coordinated response adopted by the two organizations, a WHO/WCO List of Priority Medicines was released and the Joint WCO/WHO HS Classification List for COVID-19 Medical Supplies was further updated.
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28 April 2020
This month, the Malawi Revenue Authority has become the latest WCO Member to benefit from the WCO’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme for Customs.
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27 April 2020
The heads of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Secretariats issued a joint statement on 23 April 2020 and called for increased action on Customs and trade facilitation to ensure an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and agreed to coordinate efforts.
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24 April 2020
In view of the global health emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretariat has published a “WCO Guidance on how to communicate during a crisis” to assist its Members in reacting to communication challenges posed by the global crisis. The document has been published on the WCO’s COVID-19 dedicated webpage and Members and partners are invited to share any best practices in this specific area to further enhance the document.
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23 April 2020
The WCO is launching its training Handbook on Prevention of Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage (PITCH) in Russian and Spanish, after publishing the first edition of this document in English and French less than a year and a half ago.
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22 April 2020
The Customs administrations of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines joined forces efforts in support of an operation mounted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and INTERPOL targeting suspected transnational terrorist organizations and organized crime groups operating in the maritime border areas between the four nations.
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21 April 2020
On 15 April 2020, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) sent a joint letter to inform their respective Members of the actions taken by the WCO and the UPU in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, emphasizing that coordination between Customs administrations and designated postal operators (DOs) is critical to the continued facilitation of the global postal supply chain, and to mitigating the outbreak’s overall impact on our societies.
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17 April 2020
A survey aimed at assessing the perception of Customs integrity by Customs officers as well as private sector stakeholders has been conducted in 10 countries taking part in the Norad-funded WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme for Customs, namely Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Tunisia and Tanzania.
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17 April 2020
In late 2019, the first outbreak of what has now become known globally as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported. On 11 March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was categorized by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic.
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16 April 2020
On 13 April 2020, the Chairperson of the WCO Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) submitted a paper to the WCO Secretary General outlining some observations, priorities and principles to be considered by the WCO and its Members during this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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09 April 2020
To respond to the unprecedented demand in medical supplies amid the current global COVID-19 pandemic around the world, and in order to help countries speed up the cross-border movement of these critical products, the WCO and the World Health Organization (WHO) joined hands to strengthen their cooperation by establishing a coordinated approach in their response to the pandemic.
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06 April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic, while above all a public health crisis, presents the world with unprecedented social and economic challenges. Emergency measures needed to curb the spread of the disease have unintended impacts on the world economy and trade, including the global supply chains that produce and distribute essential goods such as medical supplies, food, and energy.
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