The World Customs Organization (WCO) successfully delivered a “green” regional workshop (conducted without the use of paper) on the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) in Bali, Indonesia, from 19 to 22 December 2022, with the financial support of the Customs Cooperation Fund of China (CCF-China). A total of 27 Customs officials from the region attended the workshop in-person, and about 15 officials joined online from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) and the Korea Customs Service. Overall, 22 contracting parties and 2 observers (Timor Leste and Brunei Darussalam) to the RKC participated in the workshop.
Over the span of 4 days, important Customs topics relating to the Body of the Convention, the General Annex (GA), and the Specific Annexes (SAs) of the RKC were examined and discussed. Key topics covered relating to the GA were: Clearance and other Customs formalities (Chapter 3), Duties and Taxes (Chapter 4), Customs Control (Chapter 6), Information Technology (Chapter 7), and further discussed in detail on issues around Customs declaration, deferred payment, juxtaposed, coordinated border management, etc. Within the scope of the SAs, Chapters relating to the formalities prior to the lodgement of goods declaration, inward processing, processing for home use, free zones, rules of origin, and relief consignments were discussed. The participants from GACC and Mongolia Customs General Administration also made a presentation on free zones, and the participant from Indonesia presented on their Electronic Certificate of Origin (E-CoO) and data exchange.
The workshop also reviewed a case study and carried out gap analysis exercise in order to understand the implementation issues and challenges faced by the CPs, as the majority of the participants were CPs to the RKC. Overall, some of the major issues and challenges seem to revolve around the concepts of juxtaposed, joint controls, de-minimis, deferred payment, data exchange, etc. In addition, the workshop was briefly updated on the relationship between the RKC and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and on the status of the on-going comprehensive review of the RKC.
With the generous support of the Customs and Excise Regional Office (CERO) of Bali, Indonesia, a field visit was arranged to the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali (NRIAB). During this visit, the participants were made aware of the application of the Electronic Customs Declaration for Travelers implemented at the NRIAB by the CERO of Bali.
The Deputy Director of the Indonesian Customs and Excise Education and Training Center (ICEETC), WCO Regional Training Centre (RTC) of Indonesia, opened the workshop and the closing was done by the Head of CERO of Bali. The workshop was organized in collaboration with the WCO's Regional Office for Capacity Building of the Asia/Pacific and the ICEETC, WCO RTC, Indonesia.
For further information, please contact us at: RKCReview@wcoomd.org.