World Customs Organization WCO. Harmonized System HS

Course summary (World Customs Organization (WCO)):

Custom Valuation. Rules of Origin. Customs Enforcement and Compliance. WCO SAFE Package. Procedures and Facilitation

The World Customs Organization (WCO) is the only intergovernmental organisation exclusively focused on Customs matters. The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System goods nomenclature, and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.

It is particularly noted for its work in areas covering the development of global standards, the simplification and harmonisation of Customs procedures, trade supply chain security, the facilitation of international trade, the enhancement of Customs enforcement and compliance activities, anti-counterfeiting and piracy initiatives, ...

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System generally referred to as "Harmonized System" or simply "HS" is a multipurpose international product nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO). Over 98 % of the merchandise in international trade is classified in terms of the HS. The HS is thus a universal economic language and code for goods, and an indispensable tool for international trade. The HS provides a logical structure within which over 1,200 headings are grouped in 96 Chapters, the latter being themselves arranged in 21 Sections.

Example of the course (World Customs Organization WCO):

The customs value of imported goods is determined mainly for the purposes of applying ad valorem rates of customs duties. It constitutes the taxable basis for customs duties. It is also an essential element for compiling trade statistics, monitoring quantitative restrictions, applying tariff preferences, and collecting national taxes. Almost all customs administrations of the current 153 WTO Members value imported goods in terms of the provisions of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation (adopted in 1994).

Rules of Origin
The purpose of rules of origin is to determine the “nationality” of a good. There is no international definition of Origin, although a distinction is made between two systems: preferential and non-preferential.
- In the case of preferential Origin, everything is based on bilateral or multilateral agreements.
- In the case of non-preferential Origin each country applies its own rules, although within some regional economic unions the non-preferential rules are harmonized for all the Member States of the Union concerned.

Customs enforcement is concerned with the protection of society and fighting trans-national organized crime based on the principles of risk management.

In 2005 the WCO Council adopted the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE Framework) that would act as a deterrent to international terrorism, secure revenue collections and promote trade facilitation worldwide.

The revised Kyoto Convention (International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures) promotes trade facilitation and effective controls through its legal provisions that detail the application of simple yet efficient procedures.

The ATA is a system allowing the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a Customs territory with relief from duties and taxes.

The Unique Consignment Reference UCR is a reference number for Customs use and may be required to be eported to Customs at any point during a Customs procedure.

The Market Access Map web site and database is hosted and owned by the International Trade Centre (ITC). Market Access Map was developed in close collaboration with UNCTAD and WTO. Market Access Map covers customs tariffs (import duties) and other measures applied by 188 importing countries to products from 239 countries and territories. MFN and preferential applied import tariff rates are shown for products at the most detailed national tariff line level.

World Customs Organization (WCO) represents 177 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.

Countries not members of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Dominica, Guyana, Equatorial Guinea, Somalia, North Korea, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Palau, Solomon Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, Cook Islands, Niue and Palestinian Authority, Taiwan, Sahrawi Republic, Kosovo.

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