At the invitation of the CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, Dr. Frank Appel, the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, spoke at the Go Trade Summit held at the DHL Innovation Centre, Bonn, Germany on 27 January 2022.  

In his opening remarks, Dr. Mikuriya explained the WCO’s approach towards Customs partnership with business forming the basis for connectivity at borders, as enshrined in its flagship instruments such as the Revised Kyoto Convention and the SAFE Framework of Standards. He explained in detail how the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) was supporting the WCO during the COVID-19 pandemic in identifying bottlenecks at borders and developing standards to keep goods moving along the supply chain.

During the subsequent panel session, Secretary General Mikuriya went on to describe how the PSGC had a voice in setting international standards and actually co-chaired some of the WCO’s working bodies. This had been the case, for example, when the Cross-Border E-Commerce Framework of Standards was developed in 2018. He added that this approach made it easier for the private sector to implement WCO instruments, while at the same time ensuring that Customs obtained the commercial data required to conduct risk management. He concluded that there was a need to stay connected by building trust between the public and private sectors. Other panellists welcomed the WCO’s approach as a model for public-private partnerships.

The Secretary General took the opportunity to visit Ms. Colette Hercher, President of the Central Customs Authority of Germany, at Customs Headquarters in Bonn. She valued the WCO Strategic Plan as a good basis for the future and supported the focus on data, highlighting the importance of data visualization and standardization for Customs statistics.