IFCBA is pleased to welcome a returning association member, the NATIONAL CUSTOMS BROKERS ASSOCIATION OF LIBERIA, Monrovia. For more information on this association, please refer to the Members section of the website.
Congratulations to IFCBA members as we celebrate International Customs Brokers Day!
Following is a media release/press release about the IFCBA’s meeting at the World Customs Organization on June 3-4. It was a great success, with opportunities for learning, expression and sharing of views, and networking with friends and colleagues from the IFCBA as well as the WCO Secretariat.
Please check back to the “photos” section of the website to reminisce or see what you have missed! Thanks to everyone who has contributed photographs. We welcome candid photo as well as more formal ones.
The Private Sector Consultative Group of the World Customs Organization met in Brussels on April 22. The meeting was led by PSCG Chair Jaime King, a past chair of the IFCBA, who warmly welcomed the new WCO Secretary General, Ian Saunders. Mr. Saunders spoke about the WCO theme of the year: Customs Engaging Traditional and New Partners with Purpose.
Source: Rigby Cooke Lawyers
In the recent class action case, Karpik v Carnival plc [2023] HCA 39 (Ruby Princess Case), the High Court of Australia has confirmed that where at least one party to a standard contract for goods or services is acting within, or carrying out business in, Australia the unfair contract term (UCT) laws will apply to that contract.
The IFCBA celebrates all women in our member associations and companies throughout the world on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Your work in the interests of border security and trade facilitation is of great value and makes a difference to the countries in which you work. Thank you for all you do to support your families, your employers and your countries.
With best personal wishes on this special day,
Carol
Carol West
Secretary, IFCBA
Following is a link to the latest edition of the WCO News Magazine, highlighting the theme of the year: Customs Engaging Traditional and New Partners with Purpose.
Note especially the message from the new Secretary General, Ian Saunders, around this theme. IFCBA looks forward to providing input as the WCO maps its experience with partners, and identifies a purposeful way forward.
Dear IFCBA Members,
If there is one subject that customs brokers around the world can speak about – for hours! – it is the WCO’s Harmonized System of Tariff Classification. The IFCBA not only welcomed the WCO’s review of the HS, we participated as delegates and presenters in the conference in Brussels that launched the review, we prepared a submission which was considered during the review, and we dedicated a half-day at our conference in Singapore to a detailed discussion of the HS, including practical classification debates.
Dear colleagues,
I will be reaching the end of my term as Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) on 31 December.
It has been a pleasure working with you for the past 22 years - 7 years as Deputy Secretary General and 15 years as Secretary General.
During this period, the trade landscape has constantly evolved, and in parallel, stakeholder expectations with regard to Customs have grown. The WCO has strived to address these challenges by supporting the global Customs community in responding to its needs for change and transformation.
Source: WTO
A new publication launched at the Public Forum on 15 September provides insights into how WTO members have used different international agreements and conventions beyond the WTO as the basis for imposing export regulations aimed at ensuring objectives such as environmental protection, hazardous waste management, weapons control and combatting illegal drugs trade.
