Proceedings of the 14th Meeting of
The COMCEC Trade Working Group
4
3. Customs Transit Systems: Conceptual Framework and Global Overview
Mr. Jaroslav ILLE, Director of Customs, Excise and Surveillance Division of the Customs
Administration of the Czech Republic and Accredited Transit Expert of the World Customs
Organization (WCO), delivered a presentation on the topic of “Customs Transit Systems:
Conceptual Framework and Global Overview.”
The presentation has four parts, which are Objectives and Methodology of the Study, Conceptual
Framework, Benchmark Criteria of the Study, and Non-OIC Case Studies.
Mr. ILLE started his presentation by giving a brief introduction to the Objectives and
Methodology of the Study. He emphasized that objectives of Study are to improve awareness on
the importance of efficient custom transit regimes, to share information on the good practices
of well-functioning custom transit regimes globally, to explore comparatively the state of the
play in the OIC countries andto provide policy options that may be useful for policymakers to
consider in their efforts to develop/improve efficient customs transit regimes. The methodology
of the Study has four parties – the desk research, the data collection, the data analysis, and the
field visit case studies.
He stated that the Revised Kyoto Convention (WCO) is giving the basic definition of transit
procedure with an explanation of types and phases of transit procedure, including the role of
transit in the supply chain management.
Then, Mr. ILLE listed International agreements, standards, recommendations, and handbooks
related to Customs Transit Regimes, highlighting tools made by the WCO, the UNECE, the
Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries and the Almaty Programme of
Action. He pays special attention to the Convention on International Transport TIR.
Mr. ILLE, introduced basic criteria for efficient Customs Transit Regime – the solid legal
framework, the importance of ICT and efficient transit information management, the efficient
management of guarantees for Customs Transit Regimes, the importance partnership with the
business sector, the roles of an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) in the Customs Transit
Regime, the use of risk management in the Customs Transit Regime, the forms and benefits of
simplification of formalities in the Customs Transit Regime, the application of transit fees and
charges in the Customs Transit Regime, the forms and types of security measures in the Customs
Transit Regime, the benefits as the results of coordinated border management in the Customs
Transit Regime and the criteria and results of performance measurement in the Customs Transit
Regime. The same criteria for evaluation of efficient Customs Transit Regime were used by the
World Customs Organisation (WCO) in the WCO Transit Guidelines introduced in 2016.
Then Mr. ILLE, listed benefits of efficient Customs Transit Regime for Customs Authorities, for
the business sector and economic operators, for the transport industry and transporters, for the
economy of the country and finally for the regional development. He also highlighted the role of
transit facilitation in regional economic integration, especially in enhancing regional
competitiveness, in supporting regional economic integration, having an important role in a
regional production network, and finally being a stepping-stone to the harmonization of other
trade facilitation measures in the region.