The new agreement — signed in Brussels by WCO secretary general, Kunio Mikuriya, and TIACA’s secretary general, Daniel Fernandez — aims to keep customs and the air cargo industry better informed of each other’s developments and requirements through a wide-ranging exchange of dialogue and documentation.
The WCO has agreed to attend relevant TIACA meetings to discuss its objectives and will provide technical committee responses to submissions from TIACA on specific customs/air cargo issues. It will also support practices and procedures by member customs administrations that present minimum disruption to time-sensitive commercial operations and ensure similar future cooperation.
As part of its commitment, the WCO will also provide greater notice to TIACA of meetings or projects that could utilise the special expertise and operational resources of TIACA members in measures designed to heighten commercial and Customs standards and advance common interests in compliance and facilitation.
In return, TIACA representatives will attend WCO meetings as observers and will use this opportunity to express members’ views. It will also participate in specialist WCO Working Groups and ad hoc groups relevant to TIACA’s interests.
“The objective of this MoU is to ensure TIACA and the WCO confer, consult and co-operate on a continuous basis over and above attendance at formal meetings,†said Fernandez. “We want to foster and encourage consultation and co-operation at national and regional levels with WCO member administrations to promote modernisation at the Customs/trade operational interface and to explain the ways we can assist and promote WCO policies and objectives.â€Â
Both parties have also committed to an annual review of the MoU to identify progress and the requirement for updates.