“Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development”
The 9th Annual WCO PICARD Conference was held from 17 to 19 September 2014 in Puebla, Mexico and was hosted by the Tecnolegico de Monterrey at Puebla in coordination with the General Customs Administration of Mexico.
Conference Summary
The Conference, hosted by the Tecnolegico de Monterrey at Puebla in coordination with the General Customs Administration of Mexico, was attended by some 180 participants from over 35 countries representing WCO members, academia, international organisations, the private sector and other interested parties. The conference was held in English, Spanish and French.
In his opening remarks the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, expressed his appreciation to the Tecnolegico de Monterrey at Puebla and to the Customs General Administration of Mexico for their outstanding efforts in organizing and hosting the Conference. He looked forward to the input by practitioners and academics and to the exchange of ideas and experience which would be taken into account in the WCOs policy discussions. In this context, he encouraged participants to invest in even more research in support of Customs’ decision-making processes.
A high-level panel session on trade facilitation was convened with Secretary General Mikuriya, a representative of Mexicos Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, and other leaders from academia and the private sector. Dr. Mikuriya noted that with its global standard-setting activities enhancing Customs’ ability to cooperate with other border agencies, international organizations and the private sector, the WCO was in a good position to effectively contribute to trade facilitation reforms.
Research papers presented at the PICARD Conference focused on three themes: trade facilitation; e-commerce; and Customs’ role in securing supply chains and preventing illegal trade.
The conference was attended by Head of INCU Secretariat, Dr Mikhail Kashubsky. Mikhail updated the delegates on the recent activities of the INCU particularly the Inaugural INCU Global Conference Trade Facilitation Post-Bali: Putting Policy into Practice that was held in May 2014 in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan and hosted by Azerbaijan Customs.
He also discussed the role of the INCU in international trade facilitation and reviewed the provisions of the INCU Baku Resolution adopted at the conference. Dr Kashubsky expressed his gratitude on behalf of the INCU to the Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Professor Aydin Aliyev for hosting such as magnificent conference and for the exceptional hospitality of Azerbaijani people.
The conference was followed by a Youth Forum which brought together students from various universities to discuss topics raised during the Conference as well as future career possibilities in Customs and in the international arena.
Conference Presentations
The following presentations were delivered at the conference:
TITLE |
SPEAKER(S) |
|
Parallel Imports In The Harmonization of Customs Policies | Agung Budilaksono | EN |
Incidence of wildlife trafficking in India and utility of fauna detector dog for prevention | Anees Cherkunnath | EN |
Wco Immediate Release Guidelines State Of Application In The Eve Of The Atf Adoption | Cezary Sowiki | EN |
Source-Based Taxation Of E-Commerce: Issues For Debate | Dennis Ndonga | EN |
Negative socio-economic impacts of common illicit freight logistics import flows | Juha Hintsa | EN |
INCU Update and the Role of INCU in International Trade Facilitation | Mikhail Kashubsky | EN |
CBSA-University of Windsor, Canada: “Review of Body-worn and dash-mounted cameras | Oscar Vicente | EN |
“One one coco full basket: Bali Agreement and Caribbean Customs | Jose Ossio | EN |
WCO Secretariat Research activities | Robert Ireland | EN |
Gold Smuggling in SAARC countries a potential Global Risk Model | Prasad Wickramanatne | EN |
“Illegal trading Activities, an analysis from Sri Lanka | YMS Kumara | EN |
WCO updates on Cooperation WCO-Academia and Customs Learning and Development initiatives | Bénédicte Meille | EN |
Facilitating Trade under Free Trade Agreements | Jisoo YI | EN |
The single agency as the answer to the challenge posed by the e-commerce | Marisa Marcela Virzi | EN |
WCO: Role of Customs in fighting against illegal trade: mission impossible? | Mariya Polner | EN |
Proposition of critical aspects framework for the Brazilian border management | Patricia Kuzmenko Furlan | EN |
Download All PICARD 2014 Conference Presentations ! (Members-only resource)