Oslo, 02 November 2015

Upon invitation by the Norwegian Customs administration, the WCO, represented by its Deputy Director Compliance and Facilitation, Ms. Heike Barczyk, participated in a Conference "Tolldagen 2015" (Customs Day 2015) in Oslo to present and discuss thoughts on the Future of Customs. This year’s event was already the third of its kind in Norway, with around 250 delegates from Norwegian Customs as well as from the private sector participating in it.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Bjorn Rose, Norwegian Customs Director General, set the scene by mentioning results achieved, but also the need to look further ahead and keep up-to-date with new developments in globalization and new technologies, and for administrations to adequately address also potentially needed organizational adjustments.

Ms. Barczyk used the opportunity to present the work underway in the WCO Virtual Working Group on the Future of Customs, the Permanent Technical Committee and related envisaged discussions also at the Policy Commission meeting in December. Of specific interest to delegates were among others 3D printing and its implications on the role of Customs as well as the area of e-commerce with Norway being on top of international rankings in online-shopping.

During break-out sessions, participants discussed further topics among others related to IPR, export of waste, food imports, information exchange and data accuracy, as well as Trade Compliance in general. All discussions had in common that participants, both from Customs and the private sector side, stressed the importance of becoming aware and preparing now for any future-related developments.