As was announced at the 2nd Meeting of the WCO Working Group on E-Commerce (WGEC) in October 2017, the WCO will, jointly with the Federal Administration of Public Revenue of Argentina (AFIP), organize a side event, “E-Commerce: Game Changer for Customs, Trade and Consumers” on 11 December 2017 from 2.00 to 5 p.m. at the AFIP building in Buenos Aires, in the margins of the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) that will take place from 10 to 13 December 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The MC11 is the highest decision-making body of the WTO and is attended by Trade Ministers and other senior officials from the WTO’s 164 Members. The WCO/AFIP MC11 side event will be a good opportunity to reaffirm the WCO’s commitment in providing policy and operational frameworks for effective management of cross-border E-Commerce of physical goods from both a facilitation and a control perspective, as well as to demonstrate the WCO’s strong support for the WTO’s work programme on electronic commerce moving forward. The session will discuss how cooperation between all relevant stakeholders can assist in addressing the challenges and opportunities Customs, Trade and Consumers are facing with the exponential increase in E-Commerce trade.

The WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya will facilitate this round table session that will bring together representatives from the public and private sector and will discuss the current issues and stumbling blocks, as well as future challenges and opportunities.

In addition, in early December the WCO Policy Commission will discuss both, a Resolution on Cross-Border E-Commerce, and a Communication from the International Customs Community on Cross-Border E-Commerce on the occasion of the MC11. The WCO/AFIP side event will provide a platform to share this message.

For further information on the event, speakers and practical information, click here [fr] [es]