Supply Chain Security Study Guide

Customs' ability to meet the challenge

Customs administrations around the world have important powers that allow them to inspect all cargo imported and exported from a country. With this power usually comes the power to refuse entry of goods, and the power to facilitate or impede entry. Customs is also the agency to which importers and exporters provide information about their cargoes, and Customs can mandate the form in which that information is provided and the timing of its provision. It is natural, therefore, for Customs administrations to be the agency primarily tasked by governments to secure trade against the threat from international terrorism.

The SAFE Framework provides the guidelines that help WCO member administrations take on this new role, which most governments expect them to undertake. The difficulty is in ensuring that all countries involved in the supply chain can meet the standards set out in the WCO Framework. For developing countries, this challenge is significant: unless they can be seen to be adopting the international standards for supply chain security, they face the risk of becoming an unfavorable trading partner.