Driving Customs performance with data and technology in changing landscape of global trade

The conference.

The conference is one of the key annual events of the WCO, jointly held by the WCO and the Customs Administration of the Netherlands, under the theme “Driving Customs performance with data and technology in the changing landscape of global trade”.

The conference included discussion sessions, seminars, and exchange of experiences on technology application in custom operation. The exhibition introducing modern technologies in customs operation run in parallel to the conference.

The conference was attended by representatives of WCO, member customs administrations, border management agencies, IT service providers, state management agencies, enterprises operating in international trade, scholars and researchers. About 1,200 participants from 136 countries attended the 2022 WCO Technology Conference and Exhibition.

Opening remarks were provided by Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, the representative of the Ministry of Finance of the Netherland, and the Director General of Dutch Customs. The three speakers highlighted the responsibilities of Customs in the changing landscape of global trade, and the role of data and technology in accomplishing the important tasks of protecting society, collecting revenue and facilitating legitimate trade, including the growth of cross-border e-commerce.

The 2023 WCO Technology Conference and Exhibition will be hosted by the Customs Administration of Viet Nam in Hanoi.

During round tables at the conference, representatives of customs administrations, international organizations and the private sector discussed matters relating to scaling up Customs digital transformation by embracing a data culture and building a data ecosystem; the response of customs administrations in the changing landscape of global trade; exploiting the potential of cutting-edge technology to strengthen border security and enhance Customs processes; applying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for automated threat detection in the cargo scanning process; collaboration between Customs and the private sector for safe, secure and sustainable cross-border e-commerce.

In addition, the conference hosted sessions on topics such as challenges and benefits of data, data analysis, the potential of cutting-edge technologies in customs and trade activities, capacity building of customs members, and circular economy.

20 October 2022 marked the end of the 3-day WCO Technology Conference and Exhibition, the Vietnam Customs Delegation officially accepted WCO’s proposal to host the 2023 WCO Technology Conference and Exhibition in Hanoi, Vietnam based on the Prime Minister’s approval

The Vietnamese Customs Delegation has bilateral works with the Dutch Customs.

On the sidelines of the Conference, the Vietnam Customs Delegation had a meeting with WCO’s Head of Information and Events Department, Mr. Ludovid Thanay to discuss the preparation for the 2023 Conference in Vietnam. The theme of the 2023 Conference will be developed after the WCO publishes the theme for 2023.

The delegation worked with Ms. Nanette van Schelven, Director General of Dutch Customs, and sent an official letter from the Director General of Vietnam Customs congratulating the occasion of the 425th anniversary of the establishment of the Customs Administration of the Netherlands and the success of the Conference hosted by the Dutch Customs.

The delegation also had working sessions with the host country to exchange experiences in organizing the conference and some contents of bilateral cooperation between the two sides to implement the State-level Agreement on Customs cooperation and mutual administrative assistance, which was signed in April 2019.