When the World Customs Organization set out to establish the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it handpicked a group of shippers and trade association representatives to provide industry input on supply chain security measures.
That group, the Private Sector Consultative Group, was deemed a success by the WCO for its input in the development of the SAFE Framework to meet enhanced security requirements without disrupting the legitimate flow of commerce.
The PSCG was set up by the WCO in 2005 with 17 companies and 13 trade association members, mostly from North America and Europe.
However, since then, WCO members have suggested it’s time to change the PSCG’s current makeup.
“The intention is to introduce diverse and regionally representative membership that changes regularly, in order to better enrich the PSCG and thus the work of the WCO,” wrote WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya in an October 2014 WCO News article. “In addition, regrettably, there have been essentially no PSCG members from developing countries during its entire existence. This must change.”
Consideration has also been given to the PSCG membership’s appointments, rotation and continued effectiveness. The draft of the PSCG’s new “Terms of Reference” will be considered at the WCO Council meeting in June, and include a one-year transition if approved. “I’m optimistic that the reform of the PSCG will be successful,” Mikuriya stated.
Meanwhile the PSCG remains active in the WCO. It recently told the organization “don’t reinvent the wheel, use WCO tools to implement the WTO [Trade Facilitation] Agreement,” Mikuriya said.
This article was published in the May 2015 issue of American Shipper.
