"Unprecedented Scale"... Heads of Customs Authorities from 78 Countries Gather in Seoul

Heads of customs authorities from 78 countries gathered in Seoul to attend the Global Customs Cooperation Meeting. This event, organized under the leadership of the Korea Customs Service, is considered a large-scale event unprecedented among single-nation-hosted customs-related gatherings.

Yoon Tae-sik, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, delivers a welcome speech to attendees at the opening ceremony of 'Korea Customs Week 2023' held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 26th, the Korea Customs Service announced that it will hold ‘Korea Customs Week 2023 (hereinafter KCW 2023)’ from the 26th to the 28th at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

KCW 2023 is a meeting of customs chiefs hosted by the Korea Customs Service, designed for countries around the world to share major global customs issues.

Under the slogan “Beyond Borders, Connecting the World!”, the event will be attended by delegations from customs authorities of 78 countries, as well as representatives from international organizations and associations such as the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (ODC), World Bank (WB), World Customs Organization (WCO), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, the World Express Association, and the International Network of Customs Universities, along with about 600 participants from the corporate and academic sectors.

The Korea Customs Service will take the lead as the host country in guiding multilateral and bilateral discussions related to global customs cooperation during KCW 2023.

On the first day of KCW 2023, the Korea Customs Service will chair a roundtable discussion involving representatives from customs authorities of 78 countries to discuss the event’s theme.

Additionally, over 50 customs authorities participating in the roundtable will jointly adopt the “Seoul Declaration,” which emphasizes strengthening mutual cooperation and solidarity to build an inclusive and sustainable global trade system.

During the two days of KCW 2023, Commissioner Yoon Tae-sik will hold bilateral meetings with 25 key countries including the United States, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Iraq, and Uzbekistan to discuss bilateral cooperation plans with each country’s customs authorities.

The main topics of discussion in these bilateral meetings will include ▲new agreements on mutual customs assistance, ▲strengthening joint efforts to crack down on smuggling of illegal goods such as drugs and firearms, and ▲export of the Korean-style electronic customs clearance system (UNI-PASS).

Furthermore, the Korea Customs Service will also conduct seminars on emerging key issues in the customs field such as global supply chain restructuring and trade facilitation measures amid the spread of protectionism, business meetings (one-on-one consultations between overseas customs authorities and Korean companies), as well as customs technology exhibitions and briefings during KCW 2023.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.