Customs Goa Declaration – ASEM Commits to Developed Countries Agenda of Trade Facilitation and IPR Protection

A Goa Declaration containing 10 point Action Plan was issued at the end of the 11th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) of the Directors General-Commissioners of the Customs at Panaji, Goa today. The two day Meeting was attended among others by the representatives of 42 nations along with those of European Union and ASEAN Secretariate.

Following is the full Text of the Goa Declaration:

"We, the Directors General-Commissioners of the Customs Administrations of ASEM Member States met in Goa, India on 8-9 October 2015, and:

ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of a continuing dialogue for fulfilling our mandate, efficiently and fairly;

RECOGNISING the need to continue to closely work together to ably progress on the following identified priority areas:

· Trade Facilitation and Supply Chain Security,

· Combating Infringement on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR),

· Protecting Society and the Environment,

· Involving Business,

· Communication and Visibility;

NOTING that the members face common challenges thereby providing opportunities for exchange of ideas and best practices;

REALISING the opportunity afforded by advances in technology for greater coordination and cooperation in facilitating trade and ensuring compliance;

RESOLVED to continue the ASEM Customs-Trade-Days and to avail the opportunity afforded by their meetings for a dialogue with business aimed at a better assessment of priorities; and

CONCURRED with taking focused action in regard to the following activities during the next two years (2016-2017):

· Carry forward the Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP) on Customs matters, matching of members needing and offering training, reinforce the monitoring of the TFAP, and recommend TFAP for 2018-2019.

· Complement the WTO’s TFA and awareness process, improve experience sharing by exchanging TFA implementation plans, examine how ASEM cooperation can contribute to ongoing world-wide work for better implementation of TFA.

· Support AEO programmes including mutual recognition processes by sharing experiences, further developing the compliance component, improving the overall benefits, and exploring further cooperation with other government authorities.

· Improve implementation of CBM and conduct a study on its possibilities in further facilitating the faster cross border flow of goods with a focus on mapping of the related logistical processes and the practical (operational) movement of goods.

· Examine the role of Customs and identify good practices in controlling product safety and compliance in the area of industrial products.

· Conduct a Joint Customs Operation on commodities of particular interest like pesticides, spare parts for automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, trains and boats.

· Share the experience of use of PNR with a view to identify best practices, challenges and capacity building needs.

· Share the experience and best practices in facilitating paperless Customs processes.

· Revise and update the 2011 best practice guide on IPR enforcement; study the use of statistics in IPR enforcement with a view to avoid misleading comparisons and interpretations on statistics exchange.

· Identify effective communication and visibility tools including social media to examine how best to develop an ASEM Customs Appearance Strategy.

We, the Directors General-Commissioners of the Customs Administrations of the ASEM Member States shall make every effort to implement the above decisions".