Source: The Phnom Penh Post

The Ministry of Economy and Finance’s General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) has waived the payment of customs broker licence fees for 2021-2022 as the Kingdom’s transport and logistics sectors reel from the sweeping effects of the ever-deepening Covid-19 pandemic.

A letter signed by GDCE director-general Kun Nhem on July 9 noted that the decision was based on a government press release regarding the directive on the ninth round of economic relief measures.

The WCO, with the support of Japan Customs will host the 11th WCO Knowledge Academy for Customs and Trade (KACT) virtually from 29 June to 3 July 2021.

Source: The Loadstar

UK Customs is “looking down the barrel of a potential nightmare” as a delay on the requirement to submit declarations nears its end and the country still lacks sufficient resources to cover the backlog.

HMRC announced it would provide a six-month (175-day) delay on declarations for goods imported 1 January-1 July, but with the first batch of delayed declarations due on 25 June, concerns have been raised over the country’s capacity to process them.

Those who were fortunate to attend the IFCBA World Conference in 2000 in Ocho Rios, Jamaica will remember the warm hospitality of our Broker Association hosts.  Here’s a lovely article about one of the Association’s past presidents.

Source: The Gleaner

Manzie Porter may be in his 80s but his mind is sharp, as crisp as his appearance – attired in jacket and tie for yet another Zoom meeting, a testament of how one of the enduring ‘elder statesmen’ of Jamaica’s customs brokerage industry is keeping pace with the times.

Source: WCO

The World Customs Organization (WCO) published the 2^nd edition of the Secretariat Note on the Role of Customs in facilitating and securing the cross-border movement of situationally critical medicines and vaccines that enhances the inaugural version launched on 25 February 2021.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) is hosting the 5th WCO Global AEO Conference in a virtual format, with Dubai Customs, in collaboration with the UAE Federal Customs Authority with support from the Korea Customs Service.  The conference will take place from 25 to 27 May 2021 from 12:00 to 15:00 CET (Central European Time) for each day.

Paul Damkjaer, CEO of the International Forwarders & Customs Brokers Association of Australia has shared a submission from his organization to the Australian Government’s productivity commission regarding vulnerable supply chains in Australia.

Source: WTO

At the biannual meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards on 26 April, WTO members reviewed a large number of safeguard actions taken by fellow members. Several members also reiterated their concern with the increased use, in general, of this trade-defence tool in recent years.

Source: WCO

Missing notifications from WTO members outlining the subsidies they give to their enterprises continues to be an irritant in discussions in the WTO’s Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM). In a meeting on 27 April, the chair of the committee, Erik Solberg of Norway, once again highlighted the problem of absent notifications.

The following USAID paper was presented at the April 2021 meeting of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Committee: