USCIB Hosts World Customs Organization Secretary General

Published on September 16, 2019
L-R: Declan Daly (USCIB), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya (WCO), Peter Robinson (USCIB)

USCIB, the U.S. National Committee for ICC, hosted the World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya on September 12 in Washington DC. USCIB leadership and staff, including President and CEO Peter Robinson, Senior Vice President and CFO Declan Daly and Director for Customs and Trade Facilitation Megan Giblin hosted the meeting.

Attended by many USCIB members across various industry sectors, the meeting provided an opportunity for USCIB staff and members to get Mikuriya’s views on WCO priorities for the next three years, share views on critical customs and anti-illicit trade topics at the WCO, including the ATA Carnet System and Free Trade Zones, and engage in constructive member-driven dialogue.

“As the only global organization authorized to speak on customs matters, WCO is of tremendous importance to the international business community,” said Robinson. “We believe the heart of the WCO is the international customs tariff, the Harmonized System, and its technical work to support the World Trade Organization (WTO) Customs Valuation Agreement and Origin Agreement. These are critical tools for business, which provide needed transparency and predictability.”

USCIB staff and members join meeting with WCO Secretary General

During the meeting, USCIB applauded the WCO and Mikuriya for making the fight against illicit trade and counterfeit as well as pirated goods a high priority for the WCO, including across Free Trade Zones (FTZ). These global trade and transnational security and customs enforcement matters are important to the United States, USCIB and its membership. “USCIB looks forward to continued work on FTZ matters, including at the WCO,” said USCIB Anti-Illicit Trade Committee Chair David Luna of Luna Global Networks & Convergence Strategies, LLC.

The WCO 2019 – 2022 strategic priorities and emerging initiatives include: (1) coordinated border management; (2) safety and security; (3) e-commerce;  (4) Revised Kyoto Convention; (5) Harmonized System; (6) Capacity Building Strategies; (7) performance measurement; (8) integrity; and (9) digital customs and data analysis.

Jerry Cook of Hanesbrands, who also serves as chair of the USCIB Customs Committee, remains committed to the development of relevant technical white papers. “We look forward to continuing to develop and advance our thoughtful consensus member views on issues under discussion and review at the WCO, including the critical work on the future of the Harmonized System, which serves as the international language of trade, and further work on the WCO E-Commerce Framework of Standards, and SAFE Framework of Standards,” said Cook.

Mikuriya began his first-term as WCO Secretary General in 2009. Prior to his current role, Mikuriya served from 2002 as the WCO Deputy Secretary General. Before joining the WCO, Mikuriya spent 25 years with Japan’s Ministry of Finance, serving in an array of senior-level positions.

Click here to learn more about USCIBs Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee.

Click here to learn more about USCIB’ s Anti-Illicit Trade Committee.

This entry was posted in Accented Stories, Communication Department, Competitiveness and Innovation, Featured Story Accented Stories, Growth, Jobs and Open Markets, News Stories, Sub Featured Story and tagged , .

Published on September 16, 2019

Staff Contact:   Megan Giblin

Senior Director, Customs and Trade Facilitation
Tel: 202.371.9235

Megan Giblin manages USCIB’s work on customs and trade facilitation and anti-illicit trade policy, covering both government affairs and policy for ATA Carnet, and provides support on trade and investment policy, handling issue management, policy development, and staff support for USCIB committees and working groups. Additionally, she had served as, and now manages, USCIB engagement as an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) representative to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized Systems Committee and HS Review Subcommittee. Giblin was also recently re-appointed to serve as a cleared advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on the Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC) on Customs and Trade Facilitation Matters. Giblin has more than two decades of both public and private-sector experience, focused on customs, trade facilitation, trade policy and advocacy. She has served as business operations manager in Hewlett-Packard Company’s global trade department, working on customs, trade policy and trade facilitation matters. Giblin earned an MBA in international management and a Chinese studies certificate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and holds a bachelor’s degree in French and Spanish from Illinois State University. She has lived and studied extensively in Western Europe and the Far East.
Read More

Related Content