WCO official: New solutions are required to facilitate sustainable trade

New solutions and innovative approaches are required to facilitate sustainable trade, Gael Grooby, Acting Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs at the World Customs Organization (WCO), stated at the event "Green Customs: Facilitating Sustainable Trade, Development through Innovation and Standards" held within COP29 in Baku, Report informs.

Grooby emphasized the importance of preventing illegal trade.

She noted that while improving existing methods is important, it's not enough: "If we continue to repeat the same approaches, we won't achieve real progress. New solutions and innovative approaches are needed. These solutions must both improve and remain open to innovations."

According to her, there is currently a working group at WCO focused on improving the harmonized system: "One of the main goals of our action plan is to increase the visibility of environmentally important goods in the classification system. This allows governments to facilitate the import of green goods or, conversely, restrict harmful products."

Grooby added that applying circular economy principles in the trade sector will make a significant contribution to overcoming existing challenges in the customs system.