IFCBA hosts international Customs brokers conference in Istanbul

OTTAWA, Ont. — The industry professionals from around the globe took at the International Federation of Customs Brokers Associations’ (IFCBA) tenth conference in Istanbul, Turkey June 9-11.

At its meeting, the IFCBA board of directors elected Federico C. (Kiko) Zuniga as chairman, who currently sits as chairman of the board of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America. Zuniga has served on the IFCBA board of directors since 2003 and for the past two years he has been one of the organization’s managing directors. He brings extensive international trade and customs brokerage experience to the IFCBA. Zuniga thanked the IFCBA board for their confidence in his leadership of the IFCBA for the next two years in this challenging time of border security issues.

Reflecting international trade concerns, this year’s conference theme was “Staying Competitive in a SAFE World: The Role of Customs Professionals.” Speakers were drawn from around the world, emphasizing the truly international interest in trade and border issues. Conference sessions included keynote addresses from Michael Mullen, assistant commissioner of international affairs and trade relations at US Customs and Border Protection; Miroslaw Zielinski, director of Customs policy at the European Commission; and Larry Burton, senior technical officer at the World Customs Organization.

Mullen spoke of the SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate global trade, security of supply chain data, 10+2 (importer security filing), risk assessment, 100% container scanning, and C-TPAT and mutual recognition.

Zielinski addressed the present and future challenges of the changing global environment as it relates to the Authorized Economic Operators program in the EU.

Burton spoke of the importance of real cooperation between Customs and private sector entities involved in global trade and coordination within and between governments to secure the safety of the global supply chain without the imposition of a crippling impact on the necessary free flow of legitimate international trade.

The focus throughout the conference lay squarely on the issues that are defining the international trade agenda and global supply chains, such as:

-the World Customs Organization’s SAFE Framework of Standards and the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept;
-the importance of mutual recognition of AEO programs for business;
-Customs capacity building; and
-how AEO status and supply chain security enhance the value of customs brokers as necessary partners in trade facilitation.

Three position papers were approved by the IFCBA Board of Directors. The first, “Customs Brokers and the Role of the AEO for SME’s,” is available on the IFCBA Web site, at http://www.ifcba.org/modules/content/index.php?id=10.

The remaining papers, “Draft Code of Conduct of Customs Brokers” and “The Role and Importance of Customs Brokers” will provide the members with the basis for development of best practices, officials said.

With observer status at the WCO for more than a decade, the IFCBA currently sits on the WCO Private Sector Consultative Group that advises the WCO Policy Commission and secretariat on implementation of the SAFE Framework of Standards, including cutting-edge issues such as implementation of the Authorized Economic Operator program and mutual recognition. The SAFE Framework is designed to improve the flow of goods in global commerce by securing and facilitating the global supply chain.

The IFCBA is the only organization representing the views of customs brokers on an international basis. It has members in 33 countries in every region of the world. The Secretariat is located in Ottawa, Canada, with the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers.