The WCO and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have been working together with industry stakeholders for a long time already to help secure and facilitate air cargo supply chains. The Secretariats of both organizations have　established several joint initiatives to address shared issues. One of the initiatives identified by Members of both organizations and industry was the alignment, to the greatest extent possible, of the security programmes of the WCO’s Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) and ICAO’s Regulated Agents/Known Consignors (RA/KC).　

Building on experiences of Members who have already worked towards aligning these programmes, the WCO sought Members to embark on a pilot exercise. Vietnam, even though it has not yet implemented a RA/KC program, volunteered to take part. The first phase of this project was then to conduct an assessment of Vietnam’s supply chain security with a focus on air cargo supply chains. This phase also contained a workshop for Customs, aviation and stakeholders to learn and discuss the similarities and differences between the two security regimes. The respective mission took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 3 to 9 September 2015 and was financially supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

Formal assessments of both Vietnam’s AEO programme and its air cargo security regime were conducted in order to gauge the robustness of the regulatory frameworks and current operational levels as well as to identify areas for development and/or improvement. 　

Specific next steps were discussed to be carried out by both authorities to enhance their individual security regimes. In particular, Vietnam aviation security authorities were provided with a strategy to work towards implementing an RA/KC while coordinating closely with Customs on their AEO programme to align the two programmes. The WCO and ICAO will continue to monitor the development of the joint project, and a follow-up mission is envisaged to be conducted in 2016.