The G20 Leaders, after their summit in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, issued a Declaration on 6 September 2013. In their Declaration, the Leaders supported, among other things, a successful outcome on trade facilitation at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in December 2013, extended their commitment to further progress in removing barriers and impediments to global trade and investment, and endorsed plans to address cross-border tax evasion and avoidance which undermines public finances and people’s trust in the fairness of the tax system.  

The WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, noted that the G20 actions and commitment especially in trade facilitation, fair and effective revenue collection, cross-border trade regulation compliance, and development assistance will be supported by the new three-year WCO strategic plan, because they are closely interrelated. He expected that the WCO and the global Customs community will be a showcase or model of good governance to materialize the G20 commitment by continuing to operationalize the WCO Strategic Plan. 

The WCO Strategic Plan concentrates on the four strategic packages that support adoption and application of modern Customs practices and raise awareness on the vital role of Customs in international trade. The four Packages are Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP), Revenue Package (RP), Compliance and Enforcement Package (CEP), and Organization Development Package (ODP). The ECP supports the potential of Customs administrations to enhance economic competitiveness and opportunities by facilitating international trade.  The RP supports national fiscal stability by improving revenue collection and tax compliance in cross-border trade. The CEP consists of four elements: enforcement tools, enforcement technology and infrastructure, partnerships to address supply chain risks, and operations. The ODP consists of strategic advisory support & delivery, human resource development, integrity, stakeholder engagement.