COVID-19 Customs & Trade Report

COVID-19 has dramatically changed our day to day lives, with supply chains and revenue collection expected to be significantly disrupted all over the world. In such emergencies it is paramount to secure contingency delivery and be agile and adaptable.

The main objective during the Covid-19 crisis was therefore to maintain supply chains and revenue collection in an environment where traditional operations were severely restricted. A survey of countries where Webb Fontaine is active shows that over 80 percent of countries adopted broad measures affecting the economy (lockdown, distant communication) and to a lesser extent closure of business and relaxation of revenue collection. In that context, Customs authorities adjusted some of their procedures: Covid-19-related measures taken to address the pandemic by Customs Administrations from across several continents and many countries were examined during a set of Webb Fontaine webinars. Some measures were introduced across-the-board, while others were directly focused on the supply chains and the clearance of goods.

The COVID-19 Customs & Trade report explores key themes and ideas around these newly adopted measures. It examines how international best practice could be factored when dealing with such emergencies, recommends possible immediate action in critical situations, and attempts to draw conclusions from lessons learnt and how they could be integrated into an emergency recovery package.

The COVID-19 Customs report also demonstrates how measures taken during the pandemic can, if they are perpetuated, facilitate trade in a post-epidemic context and open up avenues towards improving clearance and security within a dematerialised clearance framework.