From the Customs Co-operation Council to 187 Customs administrations processing approximately 98% of world trade

Background

Customs services across the world keep a body of their own, the World Customs Organization, established in 1952 with its offices at Brussels. It describes itself as an independent intergovernmental body, and its mission, as it states, is enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations. The Convention behind it established a Customs Co-operation Council, the formal name the body still carries in law. Today 187 Customs administrations belong to it, and together they process approximately 98% of world trade, which gives it an unusually complete view of how goods move. Its ground covers the work customs officers do: classification of goods under the Harmonised system, origin, customs value, simpler and more harmonised procedures with trade facilitation, standards for supply chain security, standards for enforcing intellectual property rights, capacity building for reform and modernisation, and mutual administrative assistance against customs offences. Promoting customs co-operation between countries is central to it, and it helps design and carry through policies that secure supply chains, fight counterfeiting, support trade and development, and keep revenue collection efficient. A Council stands at its head, and that Council accepted the request of the European Union to join, which gave the Union rights and obligations on an interim basis close to those of Members. Full accession waits on an amendment to the founding Convention that would let economic and customs unions come in, and the Members have to ratify that amendment.