On 21-24 May, the International Network of Customs Universities held its inaugural international conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, focusing on the impact of the new Bali Agreement on Trade Facilitation. The Bali Agreement, reached in December by the member states of the World Trade Organization, is intended to harmonize and modernize customs procedures around the world and, in the words of the WTO secretariat to reduce “the vast amount of ‘red tape’ that still exists in moving goods across borders.”
At a dedicated panel on the potential impact of the agreement on humanitarian relief, speakers addressed the experience of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, private sector responders, and the challenges of Nigerian customs in the face of internal insurgencies. Disaster Law Programme coordinator David Fisher spoke about the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to support states in developing better prepared regulatory frameworks for managing incoming relief items and teams.
“Many governments are going to be reviewing their customs laws and procedures in order to come into compliance with the Bali Agreement,” Fisher noted, “this is an opportunity for them to also ensure that they have the right balance of facilitation and control when it comes to emergency relief consignments. We are hoping that the global and national “Committees on Trade Facilitation” that are foreseen by the agreement will take this up.”
The INCU conference gathered delegates from over 70 countries, including representatives of customs administrations, the private sector, academic institutions and international organisations.