On November 21, USCIB Senior Director Customs and Trade Facilitation Megan Giblin, alongside USCIB members from IBM and Microsoft, among others, participated in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Global Customs and Trade Facilitation Commission (CTFC) meeting, hosted at the offices of USCIB member, Baker McKenzie, in Brussels.
According to Giblin, participants discussed critical customs-related challenges in cross-border trade. Chair of the ICC Global CTFC (and former USCIB CTFC Vice Chair and active Committee member) John Bescec (Microsoft), World Customs Organization (WCO) Acting Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs Gael Grooby and ICC authorized delegates to WCO technical bodies (HSC and RSC, and Technical Committee on Customs Valuation) provided insights during the plenary session, including recent developments in customs and trade and highlighted updates on the Harmonized System Nomenclature (HS), valuation and origin.
During the afternoon plenary, ICC National Committee (NC) and respective NC company members, including many USCIB members, presented outcomes and next steps to the Commission on four important issues: the green economy, improving Authorized Economic Operator (AEO)/trusted trader programs, pathways for customs valuation in the e-commerce era and the impact of a complex and fast-changing environmental and labor regulatory landscape on business.
Following the ICC Commission meeting, Giblin and USCIB members met with the U.S. attaché to the EU and Belgium to discuss Committee priorities and regional interests.
Prior to these meetings in Brussels, USCIB held an in-person CTFC meeting on November 14, hosted by USCIB member Google in Chicago and chaired by USCIB CTFC Chair Michelle Welsh (Google). Meeting topics included Committee priorities for 2024, forced labor, WTO and WCO matters, such sd customs classification, customs valuation, humanitarian shipments/cargo, and Committee priorities for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
USCIB also hosted a Global Trade Networking Event in Minneapolis on November 15. USCIB members and colleagues had the opportunity discuss customs and trade topics with other experts in the field during an informal evening of conversation and networking.