Customs Regulatory Control Study Guide

3. Part 2: Customs Compliance Management

3.2. International Best Practice

Best practice in goods clearance is established by two key international frameworks:

Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
Foundational standards for Customs control, transparency, and trade facilitation.

Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
WTO agreement reinforcing transparency and predictability for all international traders.

The RKC incorporates important concepts of contemporary compliance management — including the application of new technology, new philosophies on Customs control, and the establishment of partnership agreements between Customs authorities and private sector organizations.

Central to the governing principles of the RKC, and reinforced by the TFA, is a required commitment by Customs administrations to provide transparency and predictability for all those involved in international trade. In addition, administrations are required to:

✔️ Commit to adopt the use of risk management techniques.	✔️ Co-operate with other relevant authorities and trade communities.
✔️ Maximize the use of information technology.	✔️ Implement appropriate international standards.

These elements of compliance management are found primarily in Chapter 6 of the General Annex to the Revised Kyoto Convention available at RKC General Annex Chapter 6. There are ten broadly worded standards there, under the general heading of Customs control. Fundamental to all ten is the application of risk management.

Note

These are principles that have global acceptance.

We will now focus on understanding how risk management is applied in practice, specifically in line with the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), and internationally recognised ISO standards.