A WCO Revenue Package national Workshop on the development of an Advance Ruling System for classification, funded by CCF Korea, was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 30 July to 3 August 2018.  Thirty five Customs officials worked intensively with their facilitators, a WCO Secretariat Nomenclature expert and an accredited expert from Japan Customs.

Opening of the Workshop, Ms. Manamaya Bhattarai Pangeni, Deputy Director General of Nepal Customs, expressed her gratitude to the WCO, Japan Customs and CCF Korea for their continuous support in enabling capacity building in Nepal.  She highlighted the importance of HS classification to fair, efficient and effective revenue collection and trade facilitation.  She also emphasised the role of an effective Advance Ruling System in the modernization plan of the Department of Customs of Nepal.  She encouraged participants to take advantage of this high level Workshop to increase their knowledge and skills to help further advances in these areas.

A wide range of HS-related matters were addressed in the Workshop, including the Harmonized System and its tools, the fundamental principles of the General Rules and classification case studies.  The focus was on the improvement of the current classification work model and on the implementation of an Advance Ruling System for classification as set out in the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation.  To that end, the tools and instruments developed by the WCO under the Revenue Package for advance rulings were presented and used in undertaking a holistic examination of the current national classification structure.

At the end of the Workshop, the participants presented the results of the practical application of the Diagnostic Tool on Tariff Classification Work and Related Infrastructure to the Director General and Directors of the Department of Customs.  This included an Action Plan with proposals and solutions related to the modernization of classification work and to the implementation of an Advance Ruling System for classification.  Nepal has already approved the legal provision for the Advance Ruling System and is committed to its effective implementation by December 2019.

In closing, the Director General of Nepal Customs, Mr. Toyam Raya, also emphasised the importance of both HS classification and an effective Advance Ruling System.  He thanked the WCO and CCF Korea for their support and confirmed that the diagnostic and action plan presented by the participants would be applied jointly with the Work Plan for Customs Reform and Modernization for Trade Facilitation of Nepal.