World Customs Journal - your complimentary eJournal

Prof. David Widdowson
(Editor-in-Chief)

This edition of the Journal has as its theme the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the cross-border environment, and features a number of articles that examine the topic from the perspective of coordinated border management.

In his article ICT and the New Global Investment Paradigm: Challenges to Cross-Border Trade and Investment, IBM’s Andrew Jackson identifies ‘horizontal, intergovernmental networks among the world’s regulators’ as a key facilitator in helping to ensure global stability. In doing so, he points to the WCO’s SAFE Framework as a step in the right direction, but warns that ‘the ongoing challenge…is to ensure that high level commitments morph into concrete action at the regional and country level as this is where the “rubber hits the road” in respect to ensuring material outcomes for industry and governments alike’. In discussing global developments, Mr Jackson points to the need for individuals, organisations and governments to carefully consider how they may best collaborate in the use of technology in order to achieve their desired outcomes. The University of Canberra’s Adjunct Professor Steve Holloway, in his article The Transition from e-Customs to eBorder Management, analyses the e-Customs phenomenon and the obstacles to its expansion across borders. His analysis draws on studies that have found that the interoperability of e-commerce legal frameworks among countries remains low, even among countries that have adopted international standards. The influence of international organisations and regional initiatives on the encouragement of cooperation among countries is discussed, and Professor Holloway argues that the full benefits of ICT and electronic commerce are unlikely to be achieved until there is uniform adoption or adaptation of national policies and legal frameworks that enable and legitimise the interoperable use of ICT in its national and international aspects.

(Current issue, April 2009)

While focusing on more effective automated data management, David Hesketh from HM Revenue and Customs addresses the need for globally networked Customs and integrated border management. This, he points out, is fully consistent with the WCO’s perception of Customs in the 21st century, which includes a strengthened cooperation between customs administrations, businesses and other government agencies. Mr Hesketh has provided a very compelling article that examines the way in which seamless electronic data and logistics pipelines are serving to shift the focus of Customs from import declarations to the start of commercial transactions. In his article, he argues the case for a radical re-assessment of the Customs business model by shifting the emphasis ‘from the point of importation to as far upstream in the supply chain as possible’. Drawing on the UK Customs and International Compliance Strategy, he comments that ‘through technology and partnerships our control and monitoring can be far more integrated, virtual, broad and global’. Another particularly interesting article, contributed by Alan Long from Maritime Cargo Processing Plc, discusses key elements of coordinated border management from the perspective of the international trading community. In examining the key attributes of Port Community Systems (PCS), Mr Long identifies the considerable degree of cooperation and coordination that has resulted in the internationally acclaimed Destin8 system. He observes that, despite the obvious improvements in Business-to-Customs and Customs-to Business areas, a notable benefit is the way in which the PCS has ‘encouraged data transfer and the single submission of data for multiple use in the Business-to-Business area of port operations’. The lessons learned from the Destin8 experience translate directly to those government agencies involved in border management and, as noted by Mr Long, ‘Governments intending to develop Single Windows would…do well to look at the experiences of PCS providers when doing so, or they run the risk of providing systems that do not fully meet the needs of their customers’.

I trust that you enjoy reading these and other insightful articles in this edition of the Journal, and I look forward to receiving your contributions to the next issue which will focus on the impact of the economic crisis on world trade and Customs.