“Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development”
The 13th annual WCO PICARD Conference was held from 9 to 11 October 2018 in Malatya, Turkey and was organised by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in patnership with the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Customs and Trade.
Conference Summary
The Conference was organized around more than 50 presentations by high-level speakers from academia, governmental and private entities, and think-tanks, which were selected from over 100 submissions in response to a Call for Papers.
The conference was attended by more than 200 participants from around 65 countries, representing Customs administrations, the academic and research communities, international and regional organisations, and the private sector. As in previous years, the 2018 PICARD Conference was attended by many INCU members and affiliates from various parts of the world.
The conference started with opening remarks by Mr Jaeho Jung, Korea Customs Service’s Director of Multilateral Cooperation, Dr Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, Mr. Bulent Tufenkci, Former Minister of Customs and Trade/current Member of Parliament, and Mr Fatih Metin, Deputy Minister of Trade, Turkey.
In his welcoming remarks, the Former Minister of Customs and Trade Mr. Bulent Tufenkci underlined the importance of this WCO event for the Turkish Government and Customs as a way to nurture new ideas that would support Customs in its efforts to adequately address current challenges at borders, in particular the threat posed by terrorism, illicit trade, and organised crime.
In his address, Secretary General Mikuriya expressed his gratitude to Mr. Fatih Metin, the Deputy Minister of Trade and his team for hosting the PICARD Conference, extended a warm welcome to the participants, and thanked the Korea Customs Service for supporting the participation of some of the speakers.
With this year’s conference focusing on trade facilitation, cross-border e-commerce, connectivity at the borders, data analytics, security, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Dr. Mikuriya noted that “with research and discussions on these topics Customs will better understand the challenges they face, enabling them to chart a way forward with greater confidence.”
Furthermore, the WCO Secretary General stated that the annual WCO event “fosters an interdisciplinary approach to research and policy analysis on Customs matters, international trade, and border management, nourishing discussions among the participants at the event itself, and impacting on decision making processes once back in their institutions.”
A number of INCU members and affiliates actively participated in the Conference including delivering keynote addresses, presentations, and chairing and leading panel and roundtable discussions.
The conference’s topics included:
- Data, security and intelligence;
- Trade Facilitation: An Optimal Policy for Cross-border Trade;
- Data Analytics and Illicit Trade;
- Measuring Customs;
- Trade Facilitation: Experience of WCO Members;
- Innovative Data Analytics Methods for Customs;
- Innovative Uses of Data for Customs;
- Connectivity in Customs;
- Data and illicit trade;
- Collaborative Research Projects: Customs and Academia.
- Customs in Cross-border E-commerce;
- Roundtables on: INCU Research Projects and the Future of WCO PICARD Professional Standards
The following INCU members and/or representatives of INCU Institutional Members and Affiliates delivered presentations and speeches at the conference and moderated several conference panels/roundtables:
- Frank Altemoller (Harz University of Applied Sciences and Research, Germany)
- Agung Budilaksono (Ministry of Finance, Indonesia)
- Wieslaw Czyzowicz (Warsaw School of Economics, Poland)
- Christopher Dallimore (University of Munster, Germany)
- Andrew Grainger (Nottingham University Business School, UK)
- Juha Hintsa (Cross-border Research Association, Switzerland)
- Aivars Krastins (Riga Technical University, Latvia)
- Mikhail Kashubsky (INCU and Charles Sturt University, Australia)
- Cristiano Morini (University of Campinas, Brazil)
- George G. Msuya (Tanzania Revenue Authority, Tanzania)
- Wisnu Nuryanto (Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Indonesia)
- Jenia Peteva (European Commission, Belgium)
- Prasad Wickramaratne (Sri Lanka Customs Administration)
- Susana Wong Chan (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
- Weiliang Zhang (University of International Business and Economics, China)
- Head of INCU Secretariat, Dr Mikhail Kashubsky, led a Roundtable discussion on “The Global Customs Research Initiative” and a roundtable discussion on “The Future of WCO PICARD Professional Standards”.
In the roundtable on the Global Customs Research Initiative the discussants were: Dr Thomas Cantens (Head of WCO Research Unit), Dr Andrew Grainger (INCU Management Committee member) and Dr Mikhail Kashubsky (Head of INCU Secretariat) who shared their ideas and views with the conference participants about how to further expand research cooperation between the WCO Research Unit, INCU, customs administrations and academic institutions; how to promote interdisciplinary approaches to research in the field of customs, border management and international trade; the next steps to take in order to drive this initiative forward, some ideas about the proposed operational methodology/framework for this initiative.
In the roundtable on the WCO Professional Standards other roundtable members included Ms Brenda Mundia (WCO, Belgium), Ms Susana Wong, (Cross-border Research Association, Switzerland and University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica), Prof Aivars Krastins (Riga Technical University, Latvia), and Dr Christopher Dallimore, (University of Münster, Germany) who provided a general overview of the upcoming updates to the standards and some specific details about the changes and explained reasons for introducing those changes.
In closing, participants joined the WCO in expressing their gratitude to Turkish Customs for its outstanding hospitality and efforts in making the 13th PICARD Conference a great success, while conveying their satisfaction with the Conference’s outcomes, which provided ample food for thought and new networking opportunities.
As part of its broader outreach strategy to bridge the divide between academia and Customs, the WCO streamed many of the Conference’s sessions live via its YouTube channel, the videos of which are now available to the public.
Immediately, after the conclusion of the Conference, the INCU held its 2018 Annual General Meeting which was attended by several INCU members and members of the INCU Management Committee.
Conference Presentations
The following presentations were delivered at the conference:
| PRESENTATION TITLE | SPEAKER(S) | DOWNLOAD PDF |
| DAY 1 | ||
| Under the Radar: Porous Borders, Grey Zones and Cross-Border Practices. Evidence from the Global Informality Project | Alena Ledeneva | |
| Role of the Conflict in Casamance in the Ziguinchor Borderlands between Senegal and Casamance | Abdourahmane Sene | |
| Use of Network Analysis applied to Insecurity in Sahel | Christian Leuprecht | |
| Mapping the Arc of Instability in Sahel | Peter Kirechu and Stella Cooper | EN |
| Border Cooperation in Fragile Areas (Lake Chad) through Data and Intelligence | Wale Adeniyi | |
| Modelling Borderlands for Customs Intelligence and Cooperation | Thomas Cantens | |
| Use of Satellite Imagery for Customs in Fragile Borderlands | Olivier Van Damme | |
| Geospatial Analysis and Intelligence Fusion Training Project | Mathilde Dumont | |
| What Is the Cost of Customs and Borders across the Supply Chain? | Andrew Grainger | |
| Bilateralism and Unilateralism: The Future of International Trade Relations? | Frank Altemoller | |
| Identification and Prioritization of Strategic Factors Affecting Empowerment of Human Resources to Electronize Cross-border Trade | Etemadian Sajad | |
| Economic Approach to Improve Export Level: Exchange Rate Effect, the Turkish Example | Caglayan Aslan and Omer Koc | |
| Streamlining Customs Clearance Procedures to Facilitate International Trade in the Case of Ethiopia | Tekleweyni Tadesse | EN |
| A Dynamic Optimal Trade Facilitation Policy | Nasreen Nawaz | |
| DAY 2 | ||
| Using AI for Hybrid Risk Management
and Facilitation in Customs Tax Administration |
Suvir Misra; Anish Upadhyay | |
| Customs risk intelligence based on data analysis | Hasan Ali Khojest Aliabadi | |
| Financial Fraud Detection for Tax
Authorities by Machine Learning Approach |
Sylvester Walusala | |
| Regional electronic cargo tracking
system: implications on smuggling by youth along the Northern Corridor in Uganda |
Geofrey Okoboi | |
| Industry 4.0 and Trade Facilitation:
Impact Analysis on Turkish Exports through the Panel Gravity Model |
Gokhan Aktas | |
| FCL vs. LCL – constructive approach in
Risk Management and Revenue |
Prasad Wickramaratne | |
| Measuring Integrity Of Customs
Officials: Evidence From Corruption Acceptance Survey In Sri Lanka |
Nandika Sanath Kumanayake | |
| Diving Deeper in Performance Indicators: What
Do We Know about the AEO in Brazil? |
Cristiano Morini | |
| Customs Policy in the Harmonization of Trade
Facilitation in Indonesia Bonded Logistic Centers |
Agung Budilaksono; Rudy Rahmadi | EN |
| The Trade Facilitation Agreement and its impact
on Iranian Customs Law and its Newly Executive Procedures |
Solmaz Foroud | EN |
| An Assessment of Behavioral Response of Importers to Trade
Facilitation Initiatives: A Case Study at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House |
Vijay Singh Chauhan | |
| China Customs: Risk Analysis and Treatment in Processing Trade | Weiliang Zhang | EN |
| Customs Modernization for Trade Facilitation, WCO – ESA Members: Case Study – Tanzania Customs & Excise Department | George G. Msuya | EN |
| Using Benford’s Law to Detect Tax Fraud in International Trade | Banu Demir | |
| Trading on Time: Analysing Time Cost from Port of Entry to Inland Container Depots in Pakistan | Salamat Ali | |
| Use of Decision Tree Methods to Score Declarations | Bassem Chermiti | |
| Data to Fight Against Corruption: Measurable Results and
Methodological Perspectives in Madagascar |
Eric Rabenja | |
| DEFenD, Use of Blockchains for Customs | Mourad El Maouchi | EN |
| Monitoring and Counteracting Transnational Flows of Illicit Cigarettes by Combining Research and Technology: Findings from the NEXUS Project and the use of the ALICE System | Alberto Aziani, Marco Dugato, Cecilia Meneghini | |
| Preparation of Regional Program for Modernization of Border Crossing
Points Project in the ECO Region) |
Anil Evmez | |
| Connectivity in Customs and the Multiple Roles of Customs Administration | Wieslaw Czyzowicz | EN |
| Does Implementing Digital Trade Facilitation Matter for Intra-Africa Exports? | Adam Willie | |
| Connectivity in Customs : Legality Empowerment of Korea’s Corrected
Import Tax Invoice Issuance and Post-Clearance Audit Processes |
Jae Wung Cho | |
| Connectivity between Customs and Other Administrations through Translated and Dematerialized Regulations Texts: The Case of CEMAC and ECCAC (CEEAC) | Raymond Ekwembwe Mesumbe | EN |
| Customs Trade Facility and GDRP | Wisnu Nuryanto | EN |
| Customs against Illegal Trade in Cigarettes: Enhanced Monitoring and Control of Cigarette Precursors | Juha Hintsa | |
| A Model for Biometric Baggage Handling Systems in Customs Departments | Sylvester Walusala | |
| Testudines (Turtles and tortoises) – Key species: Illicit Trafficking and Trade in India: A Status Update | Anees Cherkunnath; Ani Bency Jacob | EN |
| Customs Administrations’ Risk Analysis using the Fuzzy Dematel Method | Murat Gulgor | |
| DAY 3 | ||
| PROFILE and PEN-CP (new projects) | Susana Wong-Chan | |
| Multi-Project reflections | Representative from a European Customs Administration | |
| Some Reflections on Measuring Trade Facilitation in Cross-border Ecommerce | Jenia Peteva | EN |
| The Impact of E-commerce on Business Environment and Trade Facilitation Approaching Cross-border Single Window | Etemadian Sajad | |
| Consumer Protection in the Context of E-commerce | Hazal Oguz | |
| Global Governance in Trade and Customs | Jan Wouters | |
| Trends in Global Customs | Jeffery Snyder | |
| Roundtable: INCU Research Projects | Thomas Cantens, Mikhail Kashubsky, Andrew Grainger | |
| Roundtable: The Future of WCO PICARD Professional Standards | Mikhail Kashubsky, Brenda Mundia, Susana Wong, Aivars Krastins, Christopher Dallimore |