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The World Customs Organization supported the Bureau of Customs’ ability to further develop its Authorized Economic Operator program
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5-day capacity-building mission is part of the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Program, funded by the United Kingdom’s His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for the effective implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement
The World Customs Organization (WCO) supported the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) ability to further develop its Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program through a capacity-building mission held from July 10 to 14, 2023 in Manila.
The mission is a part of the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Program, funded by the United Kingdom’s His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), a multi-year Mercator partnership with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for effective implementation of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the WCO said in a statement.
The mission was designed to improve the Philippines’ AEO program and further build the necessary skill set of BOC officials to conduct validations of AEO security criteria in line with the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards and Article 7.7 of the WTO TFA.
Two WCO AEO-accredited experts from the United States and South Korea provided the support mission, which consisted of classroom training followed by two hands-on AEO security validation exercises at the traders’ premises.
Through the hands-on validation process, BOC received practical technical training and insights on the application of validation techniques to ensure the WCO AEO security criteria were met.
A total of 17 BOC staff participated and benefited from the two AEO validation exercises. This initiative will support BOC’s effective validation process, including during joint validations with other members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, and will lead to a more enabling business environment.
During the interactive sessions and discussions with the management of the BOC AEO program, there was follow-up support for more in-depth training on the criteria, and the pre-validation process was identified.
This will include capacity-building to set timelines and standard operating procedures, developing a scorecard for objective accreditation, and a more streamlined and simplified self-assessment questionnaire.
The program is designed to leverage the competencies and capacities of the WCO, United Nations Conference for Trade and Development, and HMRC.
The WCO provides a unique “Customs-to-Customs approach” and its pool of WCO-accredited and recognized experts, including officials from HMRC and the UK Border Force, to deliver technical assistance and capacity-building by applying the WCO’s international standards.
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