The virtual Regional Workshop on the “Amendments to the HS 2022” for the Customs administrations of the Europe region was held from 1 to 3 December 2021. The WCO Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, in collaboration with the Europe Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB Europe), delivered the workshop giving comprehensive explanations on the scope of the HS 2022 amendments, as well as the background to their development, for 64 Customs officers representing 29 Customs Administrations* of the WCO Europe region.
During the opening session, Mr. Konstantinos Mourtidis, Vice-Chair Europe region, underlined the importance of the HS as a living language of international trade and one of the most successful instruments developed by the WCO.
WCO Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs Mr. Konstantinos Kaiopoulos, in his opening remarks, indicated that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic the WCO has succeeded to complete all necessary work and follow-up actions consequential to the HS 2022 amendments. He thanked the Member administrations of the Europe Region for their excellent cooperation and contribution in making this progress.
He noted that the WCO considers training and information exchange as critically important activities for the successful interpretation and application of the new HS edition and underlined that the international community can draw the full advantages of the HS, only if it is applied uniformly and consistently by all users.
The workshop’s main focus was to explain and discuss with participants the new HS 2022 Edition, strengthening the shared understanding of the changes made. Such an understanding will facilitate the implementation of the new HS edition at the national level and will contribute to the fair and efficient collection of customs duties.
The Workshop also included a presentation from the WCO Publication Service on the WCO Trade Tools, which is a new WCO database providing a single point of access to the information on the HS, Origin and Valuation. The WCO Trade Tools makes it easy to compare HS 2017 and HS 2022.
At the closing session, Ms. Gael Grooby, WCO Deputy Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs, expressed her appreciation to Mr. Mirhasan Seyidzade and the other ROCB Europe staff for their priceless contributions and for running a smooth event. She noted that it was the work of the HS practitioners that ensured the aims inherent in the amendments were met. As such, events such as this which enhanced shared knowledge, contributed to the ongoing work and commitment of Members and the WCO Secretariat to keep working closely to eliminate inconsistencies and to improve the Harmonized System and its tools.
The participants expressed their satisfaction and appreciation for the information shared at the Workshop, and stated that the Workshop has improved their understanding of the amendments of the HS and would help their administrations to implement the HS 2022 edition effectively and in a timely manner.
* Albania; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Greece, Hungary; Iceland; Israel; Italy; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Kyrgyz Republic; Latvia; Lithuania; Moldova; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; North Macedonia; Turkey; Ukraine and United Kingdom.