The 64th Meeting of the WCO Data Model Projects Team (DMPT) was held successfully, in a virtual mode, on 6 and 7 September 2022. There were 134 participants made up of WCO Members as well as representatives of international organizations and the private sector registered for the Meeting.
Ms. Louritha Green of the United States chaired the Meeting. To strengthen the overall governance of the WCO, the DMPT agreed to extend the terms of office of the current DMPT Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson (Mr. Niclas Gustafsson of Sweden) to June 2023, to bring their terms of office into line with the WCO Financial Year.
The DMPT discussed and approved the WCO Data Model (WCO DM) name and definition rules, to ensure consistency. It was also updated on progress with the preparation of Version 4.0.0 of the WCO DM, with the second beta release being published for review.
Regarding the ongoing work to establish Maritime Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) standards, the DMPT discussed two options for modelling PNR data and indicated that there was a need to consult the cruise line industry.
In terms of facilitating the implementation of the WCO DM and accelerating supply chain digitalization, the DMPT discussed the development of a common dataset for primary Customs documents such as the Customs declaration. The DMPT agreed to further discuss the benefits and requirements of this initiative at its next meeting.
The DMPT benefited from a presentation by a representative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) about international standards to facilitate international transactions and information flows. The ensuing discussion addressed the mapping of the WCO DM to the UNECE standards, i.e. the core components of its reference data models, in order to enhance supply chain interoperability.
The DMPT also discussed the future maintenance of the GOVCBR electronic message format, and supported the proposal not to update this message format.
Concerning the role of the WCO DM in the WCO Data Strategy, the DMPT discussed the harmonization of statistical data based on international standards. A representative of the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) presented an existing standard, namely the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX). The DMPT examined the potential alignment of the WCO DM with the SDMX, and agreed on the collaboration with the Working Group on Data and Statistics, which will discuss the standardization of statistics on Customs activities.
The Meeting was closed by Mr. Brendan O’Hearn, Deputy Director, Compliance and Facilitation Directorate, who congratulated the participants on all of the outcomes achieved.