At the end of March 2023, the WCO Enforcement Committee celebrated 40 years of supporting customs internationally.
With their oversight of commercial activity, not everyone views customs organisations as business friendly but in essence they are.
They help to preserve the good order which makes our society function. Going beyond taxation, to try to interrupt drug trafficking, weapons, or people smuggling, money laundering, wildlife trafficking and further CITES breaches.
Other duties can include dealing with illicit plastic waste, or ozone depleting substances. They assist with electronic crime, often ecommerce related, along with preventing movement of harmful substances and goods.
Customs can be part of radiological and nuclear detection, preserving intellectual property, or cultural heritage items across the globe.
Looking To The Future
Given the overall nature of customs duties, no surprise that the keynote speaker at their gathering was Interpol’s representative to the EU.
In volume terms, customs tasks are predominantly those we see but a disproportionate element of resources are focused on organised crime and counter terrorist activity. To protect, rather than gather revenue.
To do this, they need to be a step ahead, by working to improve digital forensics and interception. The use of artificial intelligence in understanding events, or analysing
communication is growing.
Intelligence gathering and international cooperation are at the root of much of their work. We are unlikely to see a robot customs officer at the airport anytime soon but in a virtual sense, they’re becoming part of their team.
ATA Carnet Security
The latest technology and AI are of course available to all parties, making false documentation easier to produce. This can apply to any customs paperwork, including ATA carnets.
Apart from fakery, carnets can be used to circumvent export, or import requirements in other ways. Operation Jubilarian, mentioned during their recent meeting, specifically focuses on ATA carnet misuse.
The forthcoming move to an app based ATA carnet system is in part to make life easier for all involved but will also help with security. An aspect of carnet management that Dynamic Dox take very seriously.
Working With Customs
A primary customs task is protection of supply chains and on behalf of our clients, we are part of that. One reason we are so dedicated to accuracy and error avoidance, to avoid delays, or triggering alarm bells.
Our carnets come from a reputable UK source and their validity is evident on inspection. Should there be any issue at customs, back up from us is available from us at the end of a phone, regardless of the hour.
We can hardly claim to be averting threats to nations but are a small part of ensuring that business takes place in a rational, uninterrupted way. By all means talk with our support team, to learn more on how we help.