The World Customs Organization (WCO) will host a Global Forum on Origin Interconnectivity on 3 and 4 February 2025 at the WCO headquarters Brussels, Belgium in an in-person format. The global forum is funded by the Korea Customs Service (KCS) and the European Union (EU) under the EU-WCO Programme for Rules of Origin in Africa. The event will be held in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

The Global Forum is aimed at exploring what is “Interconnectivity” and how does it relate to enabling enhanced management and facilitation of origin procedures. A variety of origin-related interconnectivity topics will be discussed during the two-day event with a special focus on cross-border data exchange related to Certificate of Origin (CO) and Declaration of Origin (DO).

The forum will also share the outcomes of a recent study conducted by the WCO and the Technical Committee on Rules of Origin (TCRO). This study, titled "Feasibility Study on the Interconnectivity Framework for the Certificate of Origin (CO)," covers various aspects such as the legal framework and compliance for data exchange, Business Process Model (BPM), the dataset for e-CO published as part of the WCO Data Model (WCO DM) and technological specifications.

The forum provides a platform to engage with relevant partners and to facilitate future implementation of the origin interconnectivity, which brings together key partners from Customs authorities and other border agencies, the regional economic community, international organizations, academia and others involved in the international trade.