View of the 13th ASEM Customs Directors-General/Commissioners’ Meeting (Photo: chinhphu.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The 13th ASEM CustomsDirectors-General/Commissioners’ Meeting ended on October 10 in the northernVietnamese province of Quang Ninh’s Ha Long city, with the approval of the ASEMcustoms action plan for 2020-21.
The two-day event - the first of its kind hosted by the General Department ofVietnam Customs (GDVC) - brought together 53 delegations from customs agenciesof member countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Secretary General ofthe World Customs Organisation (WCO), the European Union (EU) and embassies ofASEM member countries in Vietnam.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the meetingoffered an opportunity for the delegates to seek ways to revamp customsmanagement, meeting the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, whilestepping up cooperation in human resources and sustainable development in thesector.
According to Kunio Mikuriya, WCO’s Secretary General, in the context ofglobalisation, customs authorities played an important role in promotingnational innovation and integration.
The meeting was an opportunity for customs forces of Asian and Europeancountries to cooperate with each other in adapting to globalisation, supportingfree trade and building an agreement to fight illegal trade.
Mikuriya added that over the past two years, countries had developed e-commercemanagement frameworks to cope with changes in the context of economicdigitisation. The implementation of the e-commerce frameworks had madee-commerce management easier, benefiting global consumers.
Nguyen Van Can, head of the GDVC, said hosting the meeting demonstrated theGDVC’s efforts in contributing to orienting ASEM customs cooperation amidst theFourth Industrial Revolution and challenges facing the world like trade fraud,terrorism and smuggling, among others.
During the previous meeting in Germany in 2017, the ASEM customsdirectors-general approved four priorities for customs co-operation in the2018-19 period, namely trade facilitation and supply chain security, fightingcounterfeit goods and enforcement of intellectual property rights, social andenvironmental protection, and community connectivity, Can said.
These priorities have been the focus of ASEM customs collaboration since 2009,and continued to be tabled at this meeting, Can said, adding the meeting aimedto agree on specific plans of action on the four priorities, which wereincluded in the ASEM customs action plan for 2020-21.
The 2020-21 ASEM customs action plan covers eight goals, which are facilitatingtrade and online customs procedures, implementing the one-stop-shop mechanism,effectively managing the customs sector through high technology, promoting thegreen customs campaign to prevent the illegal transportation of scrap andwaste, strengthening customs coordination to prevent counterfeit goods,enforcing intellectual property rights at border areas, connecting ASEM throughinformation sharing, and promoting ASEM cooperation in transit operations andcustoms management over e-commerce.
ASEM Customs Directors-General/Commissioners meet every two years to discussdevelopments and priorities in the area of customs.
ASEM is an intergovernmental process established in 1996 to foster dialogue andco-operation between Asia and Europe. Presently, it comprises 53 partners: 30European and 21 Asian countries, the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat.ASEM addresses political, economic, financial, social, cultural and educationalissues of common interest in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership./.
The two-day event - the first of its kind hosted by the General Department ofVietnam Customs (GDVC) - brought together 53 delegations from customs agenciesof member countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Secretary General ofthe World Customs Organisation (WCO), the European Union (EU) and embassies ofASEM member countries in Vietnam.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the meetingoffered an opportunity for the delegates to seek ways to revamp customsmanagement, meeting the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, whilestepping up cooperation in human resources and sustainable development in thesector.
According to Kunio Mikuriya, WCO’s Secretary General, in the context ofglobalisation, customs authorities played an important role in promotingnational innovation and integration.
The meeting was an opportunity for customs forces of Asian and Europeancountries to cooperate with each other in adapting to globalisation, supportingfree trade and building an agreement to fight illegal trade.
Mikuriya added that over the past two years, countries had developed e-commercemanagement frameworks to cope with changes in the context of economicdigitisation. The implementation of the e-commerce frameworks had madee-commerce management easier, benefiting global consumers.
Nguyen Van Can, head of the GDVC, said hosting the meeting demonstrated theGDVC’s efforts in contributing to orienting ASEM customs cooperation amidst theFourth Industrial Revolution and challenges facing the world like trade fraud,terrorism and smuggling, among others.
During the previous meeting in Germany in 2017, the ASEM customsdirectors-general approved four priorities for customs co-operation in the2018-19 period, namely trade facilitation and supply chain security, fightingcounterfeit goods and enforcement of intellectual property rights, social andenvironmental protection, and community connectivity, Can said.
These priorities have been the focus of ASEM customs collaboration since 2009,and continued to be tabled at this meeting, Can said, adding the meeting aimedto agree on specific plans of action on the four priorities, which wereincluded in the ASEM customs action plan for 2020-21.
The 2020-21 ASEM customs action plan covers eight goals, which are facilitatingtrade and online customs procedures, implementing the one-stop-shop mechanism,effectively managing the customs sector through high technology, promoting thegreen customs campaign to prevent the illegal transportation of scrap andwaste, strengthening customs coordination to prevent counterfeit goods,enforcing intellectual property rights at border areas, connecting ASEM throughinformation sharing, and promoting ASEM cooperation in transit operations andcustoms management over e-commerce.
ASEM Customs Directors-General/Commissioners meet every two years to discussdevelopments and priorities in the area of customs.
ASEM is an intergovernmental process established in 1996 to foster dialogue andco-operation between Asia and Europe. Presently, it comprises 53 partners: 30European and 21 Asian countries, the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat.ASEM addresses political, economic, financial, social, cultural and educationalissues of common interest in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership./.
VNA
