ODASCE, SITPRO's French sister organisation, held its biannual customs conference in Dijon in November 2002, under the chairmanship of its president, Peter Wilmott - a SITPRO Board member. The conference aimed to draw up practical recommendations for an enhanced level of trade facilitation that would nonetheless maintain an appropriate level of administrative and legal protection for trade flows.
The two-day conference heard presentations from trade experts, and worked up its conclusions in roundtable discussions and workshops. ODASCE set both speakers and attendees some pre-conference homework, with questions like 'what is the current international state of play on trade facilitation?' and 'what does the WTO expect from business, and vice versa?' The discussion triggered by these questions formed the basis of the whole event.
The picture that gradually formed for the future of trade facilitation was pleasingly bright. John Clarke of the European Commission talked optimistically about the prospects for successful negotiations on trade facilitation after September's WTO Ministerial Conference. He stressed the importance of the WTO, with its unique rule making powers, as the only organisation capable of administering such an agreement. Armand Jean-Jacques Nanga, a senior official from the Senegalese Customs, talked about the progress being made in modernising customs procedures in Senegal, and David Wakeford, SITPRO's CEO, emphasised the need to grasp the golden opportunity that Cancún offered. "Without a WTO agreement the cause of trade facilitation will be set back for decades," Mr Wakeford said.
Despite a packed schedule, ODASCE thoughtfully left time to allow attendees the opportunity to sample some of Burgundy's finest food and wine. We are already licking our lips at SITPRO at the prospect of facilitating trade the Dijon way in 2004!
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 43, February/March 2003
