The 25th Meeting of the Revised Kyoto Convention Management Committee (RKC/MC) was held from 7 to 10 June 2021. Over 100 Participants joined the virtual Meeting via the KUDO platform.

This RKC/MC meeting mainly focused on progressing the comprehensive review of the RKC with the goal of concluding Step 2 of the four-step framework. The ‘four-step framework’ is an approach comprising the submission of proposals and development of recommendations as Step 1; assessment of developed recommendations against the RKC, its Guidelines and other existing WCO instruments and tools as Step 2; consideration of developed recommendations against agreed criteria for possible amendment to the RKC as Step 3, and development of amendment proposals in line with Article 6 and 15 of the RKC as Step 4.  During the 24th RKC/MC Meeting, the Secretariat provided an update and the first draft of the findings of Step 2 that had been undertaken in consultation with proponents. Concepts were placed under various categories with a corresponding conclusion on how each component would be pursued.

At this Meeting, the RKC/MC continued Step 2 with detailed discussions on the remaining concepts, including AEO, e-declarations, advance rulings, free zones, express/expedited shipments, structure, monitoring etc. As a result, the RKC/MC concluded Step 2 by the set deadline. 

To summarize Step 2, the Secretariat made a short presentation on the current status of proposals.  Out of the 203 components considered under Step 2, 46% were assigned to categories 1 (potential amendment of the RKC) and 7 (potential amendment of the RKC and its Guidelines), to proceed for further considerations under Step 3, which entails consideration of developed proposals/recommendations against agreed criteria. Moreover, fruitful discussions took place regarding the way forward concerning Step 3 of the four-step framework, bearing in mind the criteria agreed upon during the 22nd RKC/MC Meeting. With this, the Committee is set to commence Step 3 at the next Meeting and thereafter embark on Step 4 where discussions on possible text could commence. The RKC/MC aims to finalize the four-step framework by March 2023.

In his opening remarks, the Director of the Compliance and Facilitation Directorate, Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, expressed his satisfaction with the increase in the number of Contracting Parties from 127 to 128 since the last meeting held in March 2021. He warmly welcomed Jamaica as a new RKC Contracting party to the RKC. During this Meeting, Jamaica shared its experience on challenges faced in the accession process and the solutions found.

Over the very productive four day Meeting, the RKC/MC provided guidance to Guatemala and other countries of the Americas region on their compliance with the RKC provisions so as to support them in their accession process.

The next RKC/MC will be 13-17 September 2021.