The Permanent Technical Committee of the World Customs Organization (WCO) discussed the Future of Customs at its meeting of 14 to 16 October 2015. The meeting considered issues put forward by the WCO Virtual Working Group on the Future of Customs. Topics discussed under this heading included the impact of 3D printing on customs; deepening the partnership between customs and business; customs brokers; and digital customs.

Impact of 3D printing on customs

The meeting considered a presentation on the ongoing impact of 3D printing on customs. 3D printing enables goods to be printed on the national level having in many cases been designed abroad. The goods are not physically crossing borders but a cross-border transaction is taking place. Issues to be followed up include the legal aspects such as responsibility of customs to deal with the issues arising; the changes to supply chains resulting from 3D printing; risk management, control and security issues; and intellectual property rights.

Partnership between Customs and Business

Members of the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) participated for the first time as official observers. The private sector is to play an important role in the discussions of the Permanent Technical Committee in the future. The meeting was given joint presentations on national efforts by private sector and Customs representatives from the US and Brazil.

Customs Brokers

The meeting endorsed the draft WCO Study Report on customs brokers. The report was drawn up on the basis of a survey of members and is to be presented to the WCO Policy Commission in December 2015 for consideration, together with suggestions for improvements made by delegates to the meeting. Presentations by Korea Customs and by the International Federation of Customs Brokers Associations (IFCBA) centered on their experiences and on issues arising.

Digital Customs

The Virtual Working Group on the Future of Customs has considered strategic approaches to bring together the current methods, tools and experience on implementing information technology (IT) in a customs context. The introduction of IT requires correct sequencing, ensuring that business processes are in place before introducing expensive IT solutions. The meeting discussed experiences with the use of IT in enhancing revenue collection, risk management and human resource management. Digital customs issues are to be further considered by the Policy Commission in December 2015.