SITPRO was among the customs agencies and trade representatives who attended the inaugural meeting of the World Customs Organisation's "Task Force on Security and Facilitation of the International Trade Supply Chain", which has been formed to take forward the development and implementation of the WCO's Resolution on security and facilitation dated June 2002.
The Resolution is designed to increase the security and facilitation of the international supply chain, and was formulated after worldwide outcry at recent terrorist events. It highlights the WCO's belief in both 'securing and facilitating world trade', a philosophy that SITPRO is keen to promote since, as David Wakeford explained in our last issue, 'Facilitation is . the only way in which improved security can be effectively managed'.
The WCO Resolution has a wider remit than plans like the US Container Security Initiative. It applies to all international trade, not just container security, and is concerned with fighting organised crime, including money laundering, as well as international terrorism.
It's too early to say at this point how the Resolution will affect international traders. SITPRO will be promoting increased facilitation and clear advantages for all legitimate traffic, both at the WCO and at our Security Forum this month.
We would welcome any views on the Resolution and how you see it affecting international trade for you. You can email your comments to andy.walker@sitpro.org.uk 
.
The WCO Resolution (Link to an external site - Disclaimer 
)(pdf 152KB 
) is available at www.wcoomd.org/ (Link to an external site - Disclaimer ).
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 40, October/November 2002