South African Revenue Service (SARS) head Edward Kieswetter has been elected chairperson of the council of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) for a second one-year term.
The WCO is an intergovernmental organisation that deals with customs-related matters, including the development and streamlining customs procedures to help boost trade supply and international trade. The WCO Council is the highest decision-making organ of the Brussels-based organisation.
Kieswetter said Monday that he has been re-elected chairperson of the WCO for a second term running from 2024-2025.
“Central to the role of the WCO chair is to ensure that the WCO Secretariat has both the capacity as well as the orientation to serve the needs of customs administrations around the world,” the SARS chief said.
He said the WCO was becoming ever more important, given the technological and big data innovations that facilitate trade, the growth of eCommerce, as well as global uncertainties taking place in the geo-political landscape.
“The key objectives of the WCO and all its member countries is to promote legitimate trade, to prevent trade in illicit and harmful goods, and ensure the safe movement of goods and travellers across the borders that divide the world.”
The WCO plays an important role in promoting the harmonisation and digitalisation of border procedures to ensure more secure, faster and sustainable trade.
Lack of harmonised processes has been identified as one of the factors that impede trade by causing unnecessary delays.
JN/APA