Despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, China Customs continued its tradition of celebrating the International Customs Day (ICD) on January 26, 2021, but this time in a different manner. The celebration was held both off- and on-line. Mr. Wang Lingjun, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), and other representatives of GACC attended the celebration on site, while Customs officers from regional Customs districts and Customs (Commercial/Agricultural) Attachés from nearly 30 countries and regions including those from the Asia-Pacific region joined the event via video link. Participants reviewed the challenges and progress of the past year and exchanged views on the future.

PUTRAJAYA, 2 February 2021 - The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) made history when for the first time successfully held the 39th International Customs Day (ICD) celebration via Facebook live broadcast. The theme of ICD as set by the World Customs Organization (WCO) this year is Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) today observed the International Customs Day, 2021. The theme for this year as given by World Customs Organisation (WCO) is “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”.

The main programme was held at the Ministry of Finance, North Block and organised through virtual mode which was attended by Chairman CBIC, Sh. M Ajit Kumar, Members of the Board, senior officers and all field formations and Directorates under CBIC. The programme commenced with the reading out of message of Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman appreciating that there has been a paradigm shift in the working of Indian Customs as focus shifted to Ease of Doing Business and Trade Facilitation. The Finance Minister added that adopting a people centric approach would further augment the transformative process of Customs functioning.

Friday (29/01/2021) – Commemorating International Customs Day, Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) of the Republic of Indonesia held International Customs Day (ICD) Virtual Gathering with a theme “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal, and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain.” ICD Virtual Gathering was organized through the online platform and attended by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, WCO Secretary General, Head of Echelon I Unit of Ministry of Finance,  Head of RILO A/P, Jakarta based Customs Attaché, the representatives of WCO Asia Pacific Members, association and stakeholder, and Indonesia Customs Officials. This event aims to increase the sociability of Customs community and related stakeholders despite the limitation of physical contact.

On January 19^th to 21^st, 2021, the WCO Headquarters held a Global Webinar Series. Using the Kudo platforms with the simultaneous translation (English and French) with the live presentation, more than 500 Customs Officer worldwide gather around in this occasion. The purpose of this webinar is to share and collect international best practices related to the role of Customs Human Resources professionals in managing the COVID-19 crisis and potentially future similar crises.

The WCO Asia Pacific Vice-Chair, Mr. Heru Pambudi attended the 83rd Session of Policy Commission in a virtual format from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 December 2020. Under the chairmanship of Mr. Ahmed Al Khalifa (Bahrain), the thirty members of the Policy Commission were present at the session. The agenda are divided into two parts. Item A is about issues for information, progress reports for noting or issues unanimously agreed by Working Groups and Committees for endorsement. Item B is mostly issues requiring discussion, orientation or guidance. The meeting went well and highly appreciated by the members.

Jakarta (1 Dec, 2020) – In regards to the upcoming WCO 83^rd Session of Policy Commission Meeting, Indonesia Customs as a WCO Asia Pacific Vice Chair initiated Regional Caucus Virtual Meeting to seek member’s opinion/thought to capture the voices of the Asia Pacific Region. The meeting that was attended by 10 member countries, consist of: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Singapore, and Sri Lanka, discussed and shared views on some topics that become the concerns of the region. The Vice Chair took notes of the inputs from members and will convey it to the Policy Commission.

On 18 – 19 November 2020, WCO A/P Vice-chair and 42 Delegates from 17 customs administrations in Asia Pacific region convened the virtual Foresight Strategic Workshop for Asia Pacific that held and directly chaired by the Deputy Secretary General of WCO, Mr. Ricardo Trevino. The aim of the workshop is to introduce the foresight strategy combined with the environmental scan and how to implement it in the region. As the output, application of the foresight strategy in the Asia Pacific Region is expected to bring the conclusions and outcomes that represent members’ priorities in the definition of WCO Strategic Plan for 2022-2025.

Indonesia Customs held Joint Session of 21st Regional Heads of Customs Administration (RHCA) Conference and 30th Regional Contact Points (RCP) Meeting on 12 November 2020. This meeting was a joint session of RHCA Conference and RCP Meeting aiming to discuss some pending issues and regional priority agendas. This virtual meeting led by the Director General of Customs and Excise of the Republic of Indonesia, as a WCO Asia Pacific Vice Chair, and was attended by 65 participants from 24 customs administrations in Asia Pacific region, the WCO Secretary General, Heads of Regional Office for Capacity Building Asia Pacific (ROCB A/P), and Heads of Regional Intelligence Liaison Office Asia Pacific (RILO A/P).

Jakarta (3/10/2020) – Indonesia Customs successfully held the commemoration of the 74^th National Customs Day virtually. The theme of this year celebration was ”Complements Diversity to Build the Nation in Togetherness” presented with fascinating concept that can be seen from the participant’s dress code; the combination of ceremonial uniform with traditional headdress. This commemoration was attended by Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Director General of Indonesia Customs, echelon 1 officials in Ministry of Finance, Customs Attaché in Jakarta and representatives of International organizations in Asia Pacific region, high officials, customs officers and former customs officers across Indonesia. As a whole, up to 2700 participants came up on both Zoom Meeting application and “Kanal Bea Cukai TV” YouTube live streaming to celebrate one of the biggest Indonesia Customs events. 

The 4^th International Webinar Series of Customs COLLAGE (Customs Collaboration Beyond the Edge) was successfully held by Indonesian Customs and Excise Training Center in collaboration with Directorate General of Customs and Excise, WCO Asia/Pacific Vice Chair, and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on September 10, 2020. Up to 400 participants from more than 26 countries and organizations participated in this Webinar on “Escalating Threat from Transnational Organized Crime and How We Can Collaborate”.