Ha Long Declaration of the 13th ASEM Directors-General and Commissioners

THE HA LONG CITY DECLARATION

We, the Directors General/Commissioners of the Customs Administrations of the ASEM Member States, met in Ha Long City, Vietnam on 8-9 October 2019

• NOTING the 12th ASEM Summit held on 18-19 October 2018 in Brussels, Belgium, which stressed the role of ASEM as the main platform for Europe and Asia to strengthen dialogue, foster cooperation including on multilateralism and tackle global challenges together. The 6th Meeting of the ASEM Pathfinder Group on Connectivity on 15 Oct 2018 in Brussels, Belgium, which reaffirmed the commitment of all ASEM Members to further pursue connectivity, in the framework of the future Senior Officials’ Meetings.

• ACKNOWLEDGING that Customs Administrations can strengthen their capacity to protect the safety and security of their citizens while facilitating trade for reliable operators by enhancing cooperation and by sharing best practices;

• CONFIRMING the need to make further progress in the priority areas confirmed at the 13th ASEM DGs/Commissioners Meeting in Berlin, Germany on 16-17 October 2017: - Trade Facilitation and Security of the Supply Chain - Protecting Society and the Environment - Involving Business - Visibility and Communication.

• REALISING that Customs Administrations should find appropriate ways of facilitating transit of legitimate trade while guaranteeing the security of the Supply Chain; • ACKNOWLEDGING that sharing best practices and enhancing customs cooperation plays a decisive role at enhancing the capacities of Customs Administrations;

• RECOGNISING the role of customs controls on the protection of the Society and the Environment;

• STRESSING the need for moving towards concrete and sustainable operational results;

• AGREED to focus on the following activities for the next two years (2020 – 2021):

Trade Facilitation and Security of the Supply Chain:

• Customs management and intervention in transhipment hubs

• Connectivity-Transit (extension of on-going action)

• Effective and efficient border enforcement by Utilizing Disruptive Technologies

• Single window for speedy clearance, automation & integrated risk management (extension of on-going action)

Protecting the Society and the Environment:

• JCO on dangerous substances and waste shipments

• Cross border e-commerce – Drug trafficking through express consignments

Communication and Visibility:

• Enhancing the organization of ASEM Customs Dialogue and connectivity cooperation among ASEM Customs Administrations and AGREED to continue to cooperate with the private sector, especially in the framework of the Customs Trade Days.

We, the DGs/Commissioners of the Customs Administrations of the ASEM Member States, will make every effort to implement the above agreed activities and to promote their visibility, convinced that they will lead to fruitful initiatives and outcomes and agree to evaluate results achieved at our next meeting.