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U.S. Hopes To Ratify Customs Treaty
by William New
With the World Trade Organization getting much of the global trade attention, it is easy to ignore its European cousin, the Brussels-based World Customs Organization (WCO). But U.S. businesses are well aware of the trade benefits that a treaty easing cross-border shipment of goods can bring and so will push for U.S. ratification such a WCO treaty in 2002.
"In today's global trade environment, inefficient customs processes and procedures pose significant and costly barriers to trade," said a position paper of electronics group AeA. "Countries that have bureaucratic clearance processes and do not embrace the World Trade Organization and World Customs Organization customs-modernization concepts will find it difficult to attract new business, trade and foreign investment."
The treaty, making its way through the U.S. interagency process, is an update of the 1974 International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, which is known as the Kyoto Convention. The revised version is called Kyoto 2000.
Joining the convention is voluntary, and 40 countries must ratify it. So far, 10 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan and New Zealand, have done so. Six more have signed the treaty but still must ratify it. The 15 nations of the European Union are busy with the ratification process but will only join when all are ready.
In the United States, the treaty has cleared the Customs Service and Treasury Department, and is making its way through the State Department. Its last stop before the Senate will be the White House. Proponents hope the process will be completed this year. Sources said that if the United States signs, it will cause a chain reaction of other countries following suit.
Any country not among the original 61 "contracting parties" first must ratify the original convention and then the revised one.
If a country signs and ratifies the convention, it must obey the treaty terms. The revised convention includes several key precepts to follow, such as the maximum use of automated customs systems and risk management, which involves handling shipments differently depending on the level of risk of the companies involved.
Another new practice would include the use of "pre-arrival" information, in which data on a shipment is sent early to customs officials so they can start the paperwork. "This is not a concept in some countries," a U.S. industry source said.
Under the convention, countries also should use electronic funds transfers, allowing duties and other taxes to be paid electronically, and various agencies with a stake in any shipment should be coordinated. For instance, the Food and Drug Administration might weigh in on imports of food, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals.
The benefits of the revised treaty will be felt across all industries, proponents said. As much as 5 percent to 6 percent of the value of information technology traded multi-nationally stems from poor customs procedures, AeA said.
Staff Tapped For China Commission
Senior staffers have been named to the congressional monitoring committee created under legislation granting permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China.
The committee was established to monitor and report on China's progress on human rights and the rule of law, as well as to maintain a registry of victims of human rights abuses in that country. The committee also will cover China's implementation of and compliance with WTO regulations. China acceded to the WTO in 2001, after Congress granted the country PNTR in 2000.
The co-chairmen of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China are Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb. This week, they announced the appointment of Ira Wolf, Baucus' senior adviser for international trade, as staff director, and John Foarde, former vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, as deputy staff director. Both staffers have strong backgrounds in Asia and were foreign service officers.
Senators on the commission include: Baucus; Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark.; and Bob Smith, R-N.H.
House members include: Bereuter; David Dreier, R-Calif.; Jim Leach, R-Iowa; Joseph Pitts, R-Pa.; Frank Wolf, R-Va.; Jim Davis, D-Fla.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; Sander Levin, D-Mich; and Nancy Pelosi, R-Calif.
From the executive branch are: Paula Dobriansky, Lorne Craner and James Kelly of the State Department; Grant Aldonas of the Commerce Department; and Cameron Findlay of the Labor Department.
Chile Is Tops In Latin Competitiveness
Chile has the most competitive economy of the 20 analyzed in Latin America, according to the World Economic Forum's Latin American Competitiveness Report, 2001-2002. It was followed by Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico. The Harvard University Center for International Development (CID) collaborated on the study.
But overall, the region is lagging behind the rest of the world in key areas such as development of the rule of law and institutions, innovation, and the adoption of technologies, according to Joaquin Vial, director of the center's Andean Competitiveness Project and co-project leader of the report.
"Latin America can certainly be highly competitive in the global economy," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the CID. "But the region needs to address the issue of technical progress and innovation. The countries have to invest in education, especially tertiary education, and they have to create the conditions to attract investments in new areas like electronics, telecommunications and knowledge-based industries."
India To Accept Bids On Overseas Telephony
The government of India will begin accepting applications later this month from foreign firms wishing to compete in the country's overseas telephony market, according to Telecommunications Minister Pramod Mahajan.
The government will break up its state monopoly on international calls in April, reported Reuters. It has opened its markets for fixed-line and domestic long-distance calls over the past two years.
Events, Events....
Spend your Valentine's Day in secure company by attending a dialogue on global information security on Feb. 14 in Sydney, Australia.
The event, cosponsored by the U.S. Internet Industry Association (USIIA) and Australian Internet Industry Association, will be held a day after completion of a review of guidelines for information security compiled by an expert group of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The event will look at implementation issues for industry, as well as strengthen industry cooperation on security, and launch the organizations' law enforcement and anti-terrorist operational protocols.
A separate OECD meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Jan. 21-22 will target telecom market liberalization. It will include government and private-sector representatives, including e-commerce experts, from dozens of countries. The program will cover the impact of competition, privatization and developing a telecom regulatory framework, and implementation of safety measures such as pricing policies and universal service.
And with relations tensing between the United States and the European Union, a timely meeting on "Charting a New Course for Trans-Atlantic Relations" is being planned for May 22-23 in Washington. The meeting, being planned by the World Economic Forum and hosted in collaboration with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will draw officials from the Bush administration, Congress, and the European Commission and Parliament, as well as from both sides' private sectors.
Separately, Irish Liberal Pat Cox was elected president of the European Parliament on Tuesday.
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