Customs and Trade Facilitation

Trends and Challenges in Customs:

  • Unnecessary and burdensome barriers to trade can cost companies and national economies billions of dollars.
  • Global convergence and modernization of customs practices are necessary for efficient supply chains.
  • Trade facilitation and robust implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) are critical to members of the trade. The TFA promises to streamline customs processes and procedures, provide increased transparency, predictability, and speed the movement of goods across borders around the world.

 

USCIB Meets With WCO Secretary-General Elect Ian Saunders (2023)

USCIB is committed to pursuing a broad trade and customs agenda in 2023. The USCIB Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee (CTFC) promotes elimination of trade barriers and harmonization of global customs and border procedures and focuses on supporting the expedited cost-effective movement of goods across borders in full compliance with import requirements.

USCIB Meets With WCO Secretary-General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya (2019)

Current Priorities:

(alphabetical)

  • Classification, valuation, origin: at the domestic and international level (WTO and WCO, as applicable) ensuring industry engagement and issue resolution
  • CTPAT/Trusted Trader, Minimum Security Criteria (MSC), Mutual Recognition, and WCO Safe Framework
  • Customs and TF Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements, securing a better outcome for customs and TF provisions as well as ensuring compliance
  • Customs Modernization, guidance and direction on 21st Century Customs environment
  • Digitalization including a focus on Customs Data – Confidential Business Information, Data Protection, Data Sharing and Interoperability of Single Windows, protecting CBI and ensuring necessary protections are in place
  • E-Commerce in the Customs space, focused on the cross-border movement of physical goods acquired via any online means (e.g., WCO E-Commerce FoS)
  • Expedited and full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
  • Forced labor: (Section 307, UFLPA, etc.), guidance and direction
  • Green Customs, providing a thoughtful prioritization in the customs space

USCIB’s Response:

  • Provide thoughtful and focused U.S. domestic and international recommendations on Customs and Trade Facilitation matters including, but not limited to, customs modernization, forced labor, digitalization and confidential business information (CBI) protections,  customs classification, and customs valuation. Represent ICC as authorized representatives to the  WCO Harmonized System Committee (HSC) and Review Subcommittee (RSC) meetings.
  • Advocate for our members in efforts to secure the global classification of products at WCO.
  • Advocate for full (robust) and expedited l implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
  • Work in collaboration with U.S. agencies on customs and TF matters before the WTO, including (USG) on humanitarian cargo /shipments at the WTO Committee on TF, and matters before the Committee on Customs Valuation.
  • Advance thoughtful consensus, member-supported, comments which often take into consideration potential implementation issues and/or unintended consequences on such key issues as Customs matters in the crisis environments (e.g., COVID, natural disasters, etc) , Customs and Trade Facilitation provisions in FTAs, forced labor, domestic and international e-commerce efforts in the customs space related to physical goods movement (e.g., WCO Framework of Standards).
  • Advocate for business on issues such as customs modernization,  customs classification and valuation, forced labor, green customs, non-application of customs formalities to electronic transmissions, and more. Leverage participation in government advisory groups (e.g., ITAC13– Customs and Trade Facilitation, COAC 21 CCF Task Force) to raise member issues of interest and member consensus inputs on Committee priority topics.
  • Meet with U.S. government officials at the key agencies of  Department of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Treasury, and Department of State to ensure that U.S. business interests are well reflected in U.S. government positions.
  • Promote the reduction of trade barriers and transaction costs at the border, as well as in customs control practices and advocates for the harmonization of global customs procedures by leveraging various fora and government agencies

Magnifying Your Voice with USCIB:

  • USCIB is the only U.S. business association formally affiliated with the world’s three largest business organizations where we work with business leaders across the globe to extend our reach to influence policymakers in key international markets to American business
  • Build consensus with like-minded industry peers and participate in off-the-record briefings with policymakers both home and abroad.

USCIB on LinkedIn

Positions and Statements

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USCIB Announces 2021 Priority Issues for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) (1/6/2021) - Washington D.C., January 5, 2020 — The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), which represents many of America’s leading…

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News Stories

USCIB Hosts ICC ATA Carnet Administrative Committee Meeting  - Last week, USCIB hosted the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) World Chambers Federation (WCF) ATA Carnet Administrative Committee (ATAC) in New…
The 13th WTO Ministerial Conference Falls Short But Delivers Some Wins for Industry - Renewal of e-commerce moratorium and intellectual property rights secured New York, N.Y., March 04, 2024—The United States Council for International…

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Press Releases

The 13th WTO Ministerial Conference Falls Short But Delivers Some Wins for Industry (3/5/2024) - Renewal of e-commerce moratorium and intellectual property rights secured New York, N.Y., March 04, 2024—The United States Council for International…
USCIB Helps Facilitate First Digital ATA Carnet at JFK Airport (2/21/2024) - New York, N.Y., February 21, 2024—The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), the National Guaranteeing Association (NGA) and Issuing…

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Op-Eds and Speeches

Donnelly Co-Authors Op-Ed in The Hill on Commercial Diplomacy (2/3/2021) - USCIB Senior Advisor Shaun Donnelly and his longtime State Department colleague Ambassador (ret.) Tony Wayne recently co-wrote an op-ed in…
Op-Ed: Business Must Come Together to Respond to COVID-19 Now (3/30/2020) - Earlier this month, nearly 500 experts in public health, law and human rights wrote an open letter to U.S Vice…

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Chair

Michelle Welsh
Senior Counsel
Global Trade Compliance Legal
Google, Inc.

Staff

Megan Giblin
Director
Customs & Trade Facilitation
202-371-9235 or mgiblin@uscib.org

Staff

Ashley Harrington
Policy & Program Assistant, Washington
202-682-5861 or aharrington@uscib.org

 

Staff Contact:   Megan Giblin

Senior Director, Customs and Trade Facilitation
Tel: 202.371.9235

Megan Giblin manages USCIB’s work on customs and trade facilitation and anti-illicit trade policy, covering both government affairs and policy for ATA Carnet, and provides support on trade and investment policy, handling issue management, policy development, and staff support for USCIB committees and working groups. Additionally, she had served as, and now manages, USCIB engagement as an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) representative to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized Systems Committee and HS Review Subcommittee. Giblin was also recently re-appointed to serve as a cleared advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on the Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC) on Customs and Trade Facilitation Matters. Giblin has more than two decades of both public and private-sector experience, focused on customs, trade facilitation, trade policy and advocacy. She has served as business operations manager in Hewlett-Packard Company’s global trade department, working on customs, trade policy and trade facilitation matters. Giblin earned an MBA in international management and a Chinese studies certificate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and holds a bachelor’s degree in French and Spanish from Illinois State University. She has lived and studied extensively in Western Europe and the Far East.
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