The WCO Asia/Pacific (AP) Regional Online Experience-Sharing Workshop on Disruptive Technologies was held from 22 to 24 March 2021. The Workshop was organized with the support of the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) for the AP region and financially supported by the Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) China. This workshop was the first in a series of regional workshops on this topic that will be organized in the year ahead, with an objective of sharing experiences and gathering input for the update of the WCO Study Report on Disruptive Technologies.

The Workshop gathered more than 50 participants from 17 AP Member administrations and speakers from Customs and other agencies, the WCO Secretariat, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Standards Organization (ISO), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Chamber of Commerce, private sector solution providers and academia.

The Workshop focused on the use of blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things by exploring use cases, innovation projects and discussing findings and lessons learnt. Participants examined issues including the role of public-private partnership, ways of supporting the data pipeline concept, use of technologies for enhanced risk management capabilities and automated threat detection, tracking solutions, and governance requirements. A full session was dedicated to the relevant international standards, such as the WCO Data Model, and their role in achieving interoperability and paperless trade. Through interactive group discussions, the Workshop came up with a number of recommendations for future deployment of these technologies towards enhanced trade facilitation and compliance.