This commentary appeared in the print edition of the Jan. 6, 2020, Journal of Commerce Annual Review and Outlook.
As concerns around social, economic, health, and environmental issues grow, there is now even greater consensus among all role players within the international community that, when it comes to addressing the various challenges, efforts need to be stepped up if we want a future that is prosperous and sustainable for all people and creatures that inhabit the planet.
Thus, throughout 2020, under the slogan “Customs fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity, and the Planet,” the customs community will be focusing on the contribution that it is making toward a sustainable future where social, economic, health, and environmental needs are at the heart of its actions.
Being uniquely mandated and positioned at borders to play a prominent role across the international supply chain, customs is more than able to make a considerable contribution towards a sustainable, secure, and inclusive future for all, by mobilizing its expertise, incorporated in WCO instruments and tools, as well as its international network.
As such, it is important for customs to collectively act through the WCO to identify the environment in which it operates and meet all the challenges that it faces, while scaling up its ongoing efforts to respond effectively and in a more proactive manner, using innovation, technology, data analytics, and its partnerships with relevant stakeholders to the fullest extent.
Against this background, customs’ contribution to sustainability can be categorized as follows: serving the people by building safe and secure societies, ensuring prosperity by reducing trade barriers for just and inclusive societies, and protecting the planet by ensuring its sustainability for future generations.
These dimensions of sustainability underpin customs’ contribution to achieving the SDGs outlined in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and are further strengthened by the WCO’s new vision — “Bringing Customs Together for a Safer and More Prosperous World: Borders Divide, Customs Connects” — enshrined in its Strategic Plan 2019–2022.