“Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development”
At the invitation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Customs Authority, the 5th annual WCO PICARD Conference was held in Abu Dhabi from 23 to 25 November 2010. Around 200 participants from Customs and the academic world gathered to share their research outcomes relevant to the WCO agenda as well as developments in Customs professional education.
Conference Summary
The conference was jointly organised by the WCO and INCU (International Network of Customs Universities) and co-hosted by the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies of the University of Canberra and the Abu Dhabi University Knowledge Group.
The conference was co-chaired by INCU President, Prof. David Widdowson (University of Canberra) and INCU Vice-President, Prof. Hans-Michael Wolffgang (University of Muenster) and included a range of speakers from Customs, academia, the World Bank and business.
At the opening session Director General Khalid Ali Al Bustani welcomed participants and stressed the importance of capacity building and its linkage to the PICARD Conference.
Announcing the 2011 WCO theme for International Customs Day, namely “Knowledge, a catalyst for excellence in Customs”, Secretary-General Kunio Mikuriya explained the link between the current WCO working agenda and the topics of the PICARD Conference: revenue collection, the Customs-business partnership, the protection of the environment, and performance measurement.
Mr Lars Karlsson, Director of the WCO Capacity Building Directorate was admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the International Network of Customs Universities (INCU) and was awarded an official INCU Certificate of Membership.
Two universities, the University of Costa Rica and the International Business and Law Institute of Saint Petersburg, Russia were awarded WCO Certificates of Recognition certifying that their customs curricula comply with WCO Professional Standards for the Customs profession.
The 2010 PICARD Conference focused on the following specific issues:
- Customs Business partnerships:Examining the objectives and expectations of such partnerships, and ways to improve public and private sector performance through partnerships;
- Performance measurement:With a view to identifying appropriate methods to measure and benchmark Customs performance;
- Customs and Revenue Collection:Derived from Customs Duties, VAT, and other taxes on traded goods with a focus on ways of mitigating revenue risks caused by misclassification and misdescription, under-valuation, over-valuation, origin fraud, informal trade, and corruption;
- The Impact of Climate Change on International Trade and Customs Management in the post-Copenhagen Era:The consequences of climate change policies on trade facilitation, revenue collection, and supply chain security with a focus on issues such as Border tax adjustments (BTAs), carbon leakage, VAT fraud on carbon credits, trade barriers to Clean Development Mechanisms (especially clean technologies).
Conference Presentations
| TITLE | SPEAKER(S) | |
| DAY 1 | ||
| Update on WCO Capacity Building Initiatives | Ms. Heike Barczyk, WCO Deputy Director | EN AR FR SP |
| Developments under the WCO PICARD Programme | Ms. Riitta Passi, PICARD Programme Manager | EN AR FR SP |
| PICARD Programme Initiatives, Americas and Caribbean Region | Prof. Jhon Fonseca, Universidad de Costa Rica | EN |
| PICARD Programme Initiatives, Europe Region | Prof. Hans-Michael Wolffgang, University of Muenster | EN |
| PICARD Programme Initiatives, Asia-Pacific Region | Prof. David Widdowson, University of Canberra | EN AR FR SP |
| PhD Research Proposal: the effects of implementing a VAT System in the UAE as a whole, and Ras Al Khaimah Emirate specifically | Mohammed Abdullah Al Mehrezi, Director General, Customs & Port Department, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE | EN AR FR SP |
| Concept of Enhancing Capacity at Customs | Mr. Vanco Kargov, Director General, Ministry of Finance, Customs Administration, Republic of Macedonia | EN |
| DAY 2 | ||
| INCU – Recent Developments and New Initiatives | Mr. Mikhail Kashubsky, INCU Secretariat | EN AR FR SP |
| The WCO Management Development Programme | Mr. Ernani Checcucci, Programme Manager, WCO | EN AR FR |
| Development of a global e-Customs index, in collaboration with INCU Members | Mr. Juha Hintsa, Cross-Border Research Association | EN AR FR SP |
| Club De La Reforme (CDRL) | Mr. Thomas Cantens, Technical Attaché, Research and Strategies Unit, WCO | EN AR FR SP |
| Towards Customs valuation compliance through corporate income tax | Prof. Santiago Ibanez Marsilla, University of Valencia, Spain | EN AR FR SP |
| Large traders’ Customs units (by Leonardo Correia Lima Macedo) | Mr.Ernani Checcucci, Programme Manager, WCO on behalf of Receita Federal do Brasil, Brasilian Customs | EN AR FR SP |
| Information exchange among Customs, effective tool for Customs valuation | Mr. Santiago León Abad, President, Ecuadorian Customs Corporation | EN AR FR SP |
| Trade beyond new customs and security requirements- Challenges for the Postal World | Mr. Olivier Tsalpatouros, International Trade, Vice Chair of the Customs Group of the Universal Postal Union, La Poste Group, France | EN AR FR SP |
| Electronic Transit Tracking and Facilitation system (Jordan model) | Dr. Eng. Aref Ahmad Alfitiani, Director of Telecommunication and Control, Jordan Customs | EN AR FR SP |
| Customs and climate change: a preliminary examination of the implications for Customs of global climate change mitigation and adaptation policy options | Mr. Robert Ireland, Policy Analyst, Research and Strategies Unit, WCO | EN AR FR SP |
| World Customs and Border Management Practice Group: Opportunities for Co-operation | Mr. Gerard McLinden, Senior Trade Facilitation Specialist, International Trade Department, World Bank | EN |
| Trading with the EU on ICS and ECS | Mr Conor O’ Riordan, CEO, Tradefacilitate | EN AR FR SP |
| DAY 3 | ||
| Performance measurement: identifying appropriate methods for measuring and evaluating the performance of Customs | Mr. Lionel Pascal, Customs Expert, University of Le Havre | EN AR FR SP |
| Measuring the Effectiveness of Border Management | Adjunct Professor Stephen Holloway, Dean of Studies, Centre for Customs and Excise Studies, University of Canberra | EN AR FR SP |
| Reforming Customs by measuring performance – reflections based on the Cameroon example | Mr. Thomas Cantens, Technical Attaché, Research and Strategies Unit, WCO & Mr. Samson Bilanga, Cameroon Customs | EN AR FR SP |
| Do Customs Trade Facilitation Programmes help reduce Customs-related corruption? | Dr. Bryane Michael, Senior Fellow, Stockholm School of Economics | EN AR FR SP |
| Performance Measurement in Customs | Dr. Prabodh Seth, Director, Research, Policy and Planning, Mauritius Revenue Authority | EN AR FR SP |
| Excellence in Public Service Delivery & Performance Measurement | Ms. Kameswari Subramanian, Additional Director General, Central Board of Excise & Customs, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, India | EN AR FR SP |
Download All PICARD 2010 Conference Presentations ! (Members-only resource)