The International Federation of Customs Brokers (IFCBA) celebrated its 25th anniversary with meetings at the World Customs Organization (WCO) Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on 18-19 May 2015.  The meetings were highlighted by an opening discussion with WCO Secretary General Mr. Kunio Mikuriya regarding issues of mutual concern such as customs broker regulation and the important role played by customs brokers in assisting small and medium sized enterprises enter and succeed in the global marketplace.  During the talks, IFCBA Chairman Mr.

As regional free trade agreements proliferate in the Asia-Pacific, a new APEC Policy Support Unit report confirms that these agreements do make a difference in boosting exports. These preliminary findings were submitted to APEC Trade Ministers in Boracay over the weekend.

The number of regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in the Asia-Pacific region has multiplied since the 1990s with APEC members among the most active economies in negotiating FTAs. At present, APEC members have 144 enforced FTAs, approximately 53 percent of the global number of FTAs.

Attendees at the IFCBA 25th Anniversary meetings pose for a photograph with Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General on May 18, 2015.

An innovative solution for managing traffic queues at international borders is the winner of the 2015 Transport Achievement Award offered by the International Transport Forum at the OECD. The award recognises demonstrated achievement of excellence in transport provision that has improved, enabled or facilitated tourism.

This article describes changes to the customs broker profession in the European Union (EU) and particularly in Poland as a result of proposed legal reforms. It suggests that customs brokers should have expertise not only in customs-related matters but also in facilitating international trade, supply chains, financing and financial operations, security matters and compliance.

The Correlation Tables between the 2012 version and the 2017 version of the Harmonized System (HS) are an essential device for preparation of new national Customs tariffs and a trade statistical classification based upon the HS Nomenclature 2017 Edition; modification of HS-based international Nomenclatures such as the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) and the Central Product Classification (CPC); and preparations for possible WTO negotiations.

The seventh review of the trade policies and practices of Australia takes place on 21 and 23 April 2015. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Australia.

Documents are available on the World Trade Organization website at:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp412_e.htm