The World Customs Organization (WCO) joined forces with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and other eTrade for All partners to contribute to the discussions in the 2022 edition of the eCommerce Week devoted to the theme of “Data and Digitalization for Development”.
On the first day of the eCommerce Week, 25 April 2022, the WCO and UPU organized a session themed “Leveraging advance electronic data to scale up Customs performance and support safe, secure and sustainable cross-border e-commerce”. During the session moderated by the WCO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Ricardo Treviño Chapa, valuable insights were shared by speakers from the UPU, the United States Customs and Border Protection (US CBP), the French La Poste, and the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), as well as by discussants from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Global Express Association (GEA).
The session examined some trends with regard to the cross-border movement of small and low-value parcels of e-commerce goods during the COVID-19 pandemic and outlined the associated challenges for Customs administrations and postal operators. The speakers from Customs and Post showcased best practices in using advance electronic data by Customs to facilitate and secure cross-border e-commerce and ensure fair and efficient revenue collection in line with the WCO E-Commerce Framework of Standards and the UPU Global Postal Model. Last but not least, the session discussed what needs to be done in order to improve the quality of the data on which Customs rely for risk assessment, facilitation and revenue collection. Measures for obtaining the right data, from the right source, at the right time were among the discussed future areas of work for the relevant international organizations and Members alike.
The WCO E-Commerce Framework of Standards that was developed in the period 2016 – 2018 following a multi-stakeholder approach, provides 15 baseline global standards. The standards focus on the exchange of advance electronic data for effective risk management and enhanced facilitation of the growing volumes of cross-border small and low-value Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) shipments, through simplified procedures with respect to areas such as clearance, revenue collection and return, in close partnership with e-commerce stakeholders. It also encourages the use of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, non-intrusive inspection (NII) equipment, data analytics, and other cutting-edge technologies to support safe, secure and sustainable cross-border e-commerce.
The recording of the WCO-UPU session is available to the eCommerce Week participants on the event web-site. The presentations delivered during the session can be accessed through the links below:
UPU, US CBP, La Poste, RRA, UNCTAD, GEA