The World Customs Organization (WCO) welcomes the Declaration released on 8 October 2013 by APEC Leaders and the Joint Ministerial Statement released on 5 October 2013 by APEC Ministers in Bali, Indonesia, under the theme "Resilient Asia Pacific, Engine of Global Growth". The APEC Declaration and Statement refer to a range of economic issues, including the role of Customs in securing and facilitating international trade.
The Leaders’ Declaration reaffirms support for the rules-based multilateral trading system and the importance of keeping markets open and refraining from raising new barriers to trade.
The Ministerial Statement (see paragraph 52 - Enhancing Customs Procedures) notes the importance of enhancing cooperation in efforts to simplify Customs procedures in line with international standards, such as those developed by the WCO. Among other things, the Statement notes progress in the region on Single Window Systems, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement operations, and Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes, which are supported by WCO instruments and tools. The Statement also encourages economies to further implement activities related to capacity building and sharing of best practices to address non-tariff barriers to trade.
The WCO appreciates APEC’s support of WCO instruments and tools. The WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, said that "the WCO and APEC share common objectives on trade facilitation and supply chain security and will continue their close partnership".
For more information:
2013 APEC Leaders’ Declaration
2013 APEC Joint Ministerial Statement