Thirty-third ASEAN Customs Directors-General Meeting opens in Phu Quoc
VGP - The 33rd ASEAN Customs Directors-General Meeting opened in Phu Quoc City, in the southern province of Kien Giang, on June 4.
The 33rd ASEAN Customs Directors-General Meeting opens in Phu Quoc, Kien Giang Province, June 4, 2024 - Photo: VGP
The event, organized from June 4-6, with an agenda covering 12 items, will determine the direction of customs cooperation in the near future, remarkably approving the Strategic Plan of Customs Development for the period 2026-2030 (SPCD).
The meeting would also decide the direction for further implementing the ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature, the ASEAN Single Window, the ASEAN Customs Transit System, the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) within ASEAN and cooperative initiatives to combat smuggling and trade fraud across ASEAN.
Specifically, the ASEAN Customs Directors-General reviewed the work and progress of the ASEAN Customs Coordinating Committee (CCC), the Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation Working Group (CPTFWG), the Customs Enforcement and Compliance Working Group (CECWG), the Capacity Building Working Group (CCBWG) and the ASEAN Single Window Steering Committee.
The meeting also updated recent progress in ASEAN customs integration, including the signing of the ASEAN Authorized Economic Operator Mutual Recognition Arrangement (AAMRA) in line with the principles and standards of the World Customs Organization (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards.
The meeting welcomed Myanmar as the seventh member to join the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS) and its formal participation in ACTS operations effective from March 1, 2024.
The meeting welcomed the first Joint Customs Control (JCC) operation conducted online in December 2023, involving all 10 ASEAN member countries, focusing on addressing the illicit trade of tobacco products in ASEAN.
It encouraged ASEAN member countries to continue joint control activities to combat smuggling and trade fraud in the region.
The event saw the participation of around 100 delegates from leadership teams of the customs agencies of the ten ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Secretariat, and ASEAN partners including customs agencies from China, Japan, South Korea, the Australian Border Force, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, the EU-ASEAN Business Council and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council./.
