The World Trade Organization and the World Customs Organization recently released a joint publication called “Study Report on Disruptive Technologies” that looks at how new technologies can assist cross-border trade.
This report is a follow-up to an edition published by the WCO in 2019, which discusses how disruptive technologies, such as blockchain, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning, can help improve the conduct of international trade and border management. However, the adoption of these technologies will come with challenges and opportunities not yet known.
“Disruptive technologies … enable new and innovative business models that can contribute to making trade more efficient and inclusive, such as online retail and lean inventory,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in the publication. “They also have the potential to significantly reduce border-related fixed costs, which is especially important for smaller firms. Governments must not lag behind as businesses use digitalization to operate more effectively. The good news — as this study makes clear — is that many governments are doing just that. They are using or experimenting with various digital technologies.”
The publication identifies ways these technologies can support international trade and economies in a broad sense, and specific ways in which they can help entities with trade facilitation, security and revenue collection. It also provides a basis for police actions that will improve the transition to paperless trade and the implementation of the WTO's Agreement on Trade Facilitation.
“I'm pleased that we have been partnering with the WTO since early 2021 to get a more comprehensive review of where we are in using technologies in global trade, and its implication for Customs,” WCO Secretary-General Kunio Mikuriya said in the publication. “The extent to which Customs leverages these new technologies to improve its processes can have an important impact on cross-border trade processes and supply chain operations. Hence, the two organizations decided to jointly assist our respective members in their digital transformation journeys.”
The launch was followed by short presentations showing examples of deploying these technologies from the Customs administrations of Argentina, the Netherlands, Niger and the Republic of Korea.