Governments Should Adopt Reduced Penalties, Simplified Customs Procedures to Sustain Trade During COVID-19 Pandemic, WCO Group Says

Governments should suspend certain licensing requirements, expedite customs clearances and provide relief from customs penalties during the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Customs Organization's Private Sector Consultative Group said in comments released April 16. Such measures should be adopted by countries across the globe to provide relief for the struggling trade community and to help trade continue to flow, the PSCG said.

Governments should recognize freight carriers, transporters, customs brokers and other supply chain actors as “essential services” to keep supply chains operating, the group said. In addition, pilots, drivers and crews who have no symptoms and do not “interact with the public” should be exempt from 14-day quarantine requirements, which could speed up trade. The WCO, the World Health Organization and others should compile a list of “essential goods” to be exempt from licensing requirements and tariffs, including goods that are “directly impacting or helping alleviate issues or situations related with the coronavirus outbreak,” such as medical equipment, devices, computers and other electronic equipment.

The PSCG also proposed avoiding physical inspections on consolidated shipments if they are “simply to determine that [the] goods are indeed essential.” Priority should be given to medical supplies throughout the supply chain, which should include food and fuel. “These goods should also be allowed to flow through borders with simplified procedures and regulations, keeping in mind the staff shortages in the public and private sector to operate infrastructure and keep cargo moving,” the PSCG said.

Customs authorities should also abide by social distancing regulations and have access to personal protective equipment, the group said. To help make social distancing viable, customs agencies should replace all “paper processes” with electronic data and e-payments, allow electronic submissions of data prior to the arrival of goods, reduce physical inspections to high-risk shipments, “fast-track” certain cargo and accept e-signatures or email authority.”

While agencies should prioritize clearance of essential goods, governments should ensure “other shipments are being cleared rapidly,” the group said. Governments should waive storage fees for goods not cleared in time, waive “all minor penalties,” avoid holding vehicles at ports for “long periods of time” and provide “clarity for return of goods when goods are non-deliverable due to business closure.” Governments should also provide waiver reductions or deferments, grant “financial relief measures,” reduce fees for import licenses, waive interest charges for late payments, extend time frames for filing claims and appeals, and prepare for “extensive consultation” with industry before implementing any relief programs.

Governments can also help trade by allowing more “flexibility for goods redirection,” the PSCG said. Due to a rise in cancellations, there is stock “sitting in-market that could be used in other markets,” the group said. “In the current environment it would be helpful if border agencies could facilitate redirections, and relax or allow in-market labelling,” the comments said. “The alternative may be the destruction of perfectly good product, either by regulatory action, or due to the perishable nature of the products.”

Restrictions on the movement and handling of containers should also be removed because they are leading to a container shortage. If these restrictions continue, container supply will run out, resulting in a “halt in all container trade,” the group said. “This is a very real and major concern.”