New documents added to the WCO E-Commerce Package

The WCO Council adopted the final documents missing from the WCO E-Commerce Package at its December 2020 Session. The documents are three Annexes to the Framework of Standards on Cross-Border E-Commerce Technical Specifications entitled “Reference Datasets for Cross-Border E-Commerce”, “Revenue Collection Approaches”, and “E-Commerce Stakeholders: Roles and Responsibilities”.

The document on “Reference Datasets for Cross-Border E-Commerce” provides examples of datasets which Customs administrations are currently collecting, either as part of a pilot project or when implementing the Framework, to effectively track, target and identify small e-commerce shipments.

The “Revenue Collection Approaches” document describes and aims to provide a better understanding of existing revenue collection models.

The document on “E-Commerce Stakeholders: Roles and Responsibilities” provides a clear description of the roles and responsibilities of various e-commerce stakeholders to ensure transparent and predictable cross-border movement of goods. It does not place any additional obligations on stakeholders.

The WCO Council also endorsed the E-Commerce Framework of Standards update/maintenance mechanism, and the first edition of the Compendium of Case Studies on E-Commerce which includes 17 case studies offering practical examples of how Customs administrations address priority issues, such as exchange of advance electronic data, facilitation, safety, security and revenue collection (including de minimis levels).

Finally, the Council took note of the capacity building activities conducted by the Secretariat and of the key performance indicators which had been released in Spring 2020 and which will enable Customs administrations to assess their own level of implementation of the Framework.

More information
http://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/facilitation/instrument-and-tools/frameworks-of-standards/ecommerce.aspx