WCO-IAPH guidelines for customs, ports released

The World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) have released their first ever guidelines on cooperation between customs and port authorities with a view to strengthen trade and transport facilitation, compliance and supply chain security. 

The WCO is an intergovernmental organization of 185 member countries, whose customs administrations process over 98 per cent of international trade. Its main activities include developing standards for customs procedures, capacity building of its members and promoting cooperation between the customs administrations of its members. The IAPH is a global alliance of 160 ports and 120 port-related businesses in 87 countries. The main strategic focus areas of IAPH include climate and energy, risk and resilience of port services and guiding the ports in digitalization.  

Although the customs and port authorities have different responsibilities at the ports, they have a shared interest in security and quicker movement of vessels and import/export cargo besides enforcement of allied laws (such as for dangerous cargo, hazardous goods), identification of offending goods (such as narcotics) and facilitation of routine matters like cargo storage/examination/disposal etc. So, the customs and port authorities do cooperate on many issues but as the practices differed in various ports, the WCO and IAPH worked together to draw on the best practices at some ports and evolve a set of formal guidelines for cooperation between the customs and port authorities. The benefits of such collaboration can range from combating corrupt practices, reducing costs and manpower, reaching higher levels of service efficiency, increasing supply chain predictability, and improving policy decision-making.

Essentially, the WCO-IAPH guidelines stress on institutionalization of the cooperation between customs and port authorities through establishment of a national port community council (NPCC) aiming to enhance the trust between both sides and also with other government agencies and private stakeholders to facilitate trade and secure the supply chain. They also emphasize data collaboration between the customs and the port authorities through convergence of digital platforms that will generate a vast amount of data which, once mined, will help advanced analytics and fresh insights into cargo flows throughout the trade and transport continuum. The other recommendations include aligning security programmes such as the authorized economic operator and international ship and port facility security programme, development of interoperability between customs digital systems and port digital systems and a shared review using emerging technologies.

 In India, the customs and the port authorities cooperate at the ports informally and through participation in meetings of customs clearance facilitation committees and permanent trade facilitation committees. However, it appears the need for or the benefits of data collaboration between the customs and the ports have not been perceived as strongly as the WCO-IAPH guidelines suggest.  

The national time release study, conducted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs this year, shows that even after grant of ‘out of charge’ order by the customs for the imported goods, it takes 29.28 hours for the ‘direct port delivery’ cargo to go out of the port area, 69.02 hours for the cargo to leave the container freight stations and 96.18 hours for the cargo to exit the inland container depots. So, the customs and the port authorities can benefit by studying the WCO-IAPH guidelines and finding ways to cooperate better with each other.   

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