The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) SCCP meeting was held under the theme of ‘Creating Inclusive Opportunities, Embracing a Digital Future’ from 27 February to 1 March 2018 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). The meeting was chaired by Mr. James Kombuk Bire, the Commissioner for Trade and Corporate Service of PNG Customs Service (CS).
The Meeting was attended by delegates from 17 Customs Administrations of APEC economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Chile; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America and Viet Nam, and by representatives from the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the chair of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI).
Mr. Ray Paul, the Chief Commissioner of PNGCS welcomed all member economies and gave an outline of the core role and responsibility of Customs administrations as a whole; the importance of embracing technology; working in collaboration as a way forward; and adapting beneficial smart practices to Customs related matters. He further encouraged all participants to work collaboratively to ensure delivery of the relevant outcomes at the end of the meeting.
The agenda of the SCCP covered comprehensive subjects such as the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation, supply chain connectivity framework, Single Window, information technology and risk management, intellectual property rights, and Cross-Border E-Commerce. The WCO contributed to the discussions and specifically presented the outcomes of the first ‘Global Cross-Border E-Commerce Conference,’ co-organized by the WCO and China Customs, and the current work of the WCO Working Group on the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation and WCO Mercator Programme.
The SCCP, that reports to the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), was established in 1994 as a forum aiming to accomplish its goals of securing trade facilitation, trade security and related enforcement matters.
The 2nd and next APEC SCCP meeting will be held in August 2018 in PNG, and there will be also a workshop in September in San Pedro, Chile to discuss the subject, ‘Challenges and Opportunities of Regional Customs-Transit.’