At the invitation of the President of International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), Mr. Francesco Parisi, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya gave a keynote speech at the FIATA World Congress held in Istanbul, Turkey on 15 October 2014.

Secretary General Mikuriya noted the role of logistic industry in supporting economic growth through ensuring connectivity along the global supply chain, whose mission is shared by Customs. It is therefore essential for Customs to understand the business model and its needs and for business to understand Customs requirements and the way to get facilitation through improved compliance supported by an enhanced partnership.

It is also important to expand this collaboration to embrace other government agencies, including through progress towards Single Window where Data Model is vital. In this context he explained the recent development of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) and its Mutual Recognition system, as well as the on-going review of the SAFE Framework of Standards in incorporating coordination with other government agencies as the third pillar and the standardization of the pre-loading air cargo information.

In the subsequent panel discussion, WCO Secretary General suggested that the submission of quality data in a timely manner by logistic service providers would contribute to a greater facilitation and reduced clearance time, as evidenced by Time Release Study.

Freight forwarders appreciated the dialogue with the WCO and suggested a further improvement of AEO schemes through cooperation with the private sector and a change in mindset on both Customs and business for more collaborative approach.