1.
World Customs Organization
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The World Customs Organization is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System goods nomenclature, and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization Agreements on Customs Valuation, in 1947, thirteen European countries established a Study Group to examine customs issues identified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This work led to the adoption in 1948 of the Convention establishing the Customs Co-operation Council, on January 26,1953, the CCC’s inaugural session took place with the participation of 17 founding members. WCO membership subsequently expanded to all regions of the globe. In 1994, the organization adopted its current name, the World Customs Organization, today, WCO members are responsible for customs controls in 180 countries representing more than 98 per cent of all international trade. The HS multipurpose goods nomenclature is used as the basis for customs tariffs and it comprises about 5,000 commodity groups, each identified by a six digit code arranged in a legal and logical structure with well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification. The WCO revised Kyoto Convention is sometimes confused with the Kyoto Protocol, 3) ATA Convention and the Convention on Temporary Admission. Both the ATA Convention and the Istanbul Convention are WCO instruments governing temporary admission of goods, the ATA system, which is integral to both Conventions, allows the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a customs territory with relief from duties and taxes. The goods are covered by a document known as the ATA carnet that is secured by an international guarantee system. 4) The Arusha Declaration on Customs Integrity was adopted in 1993, the Arusha Declaration is a non-binding instrument which provides a number of basic principles to promote integrity and combat corruption within customs administrations. 5) The SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade was adopted in 2005, 6) The Columbus Program is a customs capacity building program works to promote customs modernization and implementation of their standards to secure and facilitate world trade. Because of its complexity, the WCO launched a capacity building program called the Columbus Programme which focuses on needs assessments for WCO Members using the WCO Diagnostic Framework tool. The WCO Secretariat is headed by a Secretary General, who is elected by the WCO membership to a five-year term, the current WCO Secretary General is Kunio Mikuriya from Japan, who took office on 1 January 2009. The WCO is governed by the Council, which brings together all Members of the Organization once a year, additional strategic and management guidance is provided by the Policy Commission and the Finance Committee
2.
International Chamber of Commerce
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The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its hundreds of thousands of companies in over 130 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise. ICC has three activities, rule setting, dispute resolution, and policy advocacy. Because its member companies and associations are engaged in international business. Although these rules are voluntary, they are observed in countless thousands of transactions every day and have part of international trade. A world network of committees in over 90 countries advocates business priorities at national and regional level. More than 3,000 experts drawn from ICC’s member companies feed their knowledge, ICC lobbies the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional, on behalf of international business. ICC was the first organization granted general consultative status with the United Nations Economic, the International Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1919 to serve world business by promoting trade and investment, open markets for goods and services, and the free flow of capital. The organizations international secretariat was established in Paris and the ICCs International Court of Arbitration was created in 1923, ICCs first chairman was 20th-century French Minister of Finance Etienne Clémentel. ICCs current chairman is Sunil Bharti Mittal, in June 2014, John Danilovich was elected Secretary General of ICC by the ICC World Council. There are two ways to become a member of ICC,1, through affiliation with an ICC national committee or group. By direct membership with the ICC International Secretariat when a national committee/group has not yet established in the country/territory. ICCs supreme governing body is the World Council, consisting of representatives of national committees, the World Council elects ICC’s highest officers, including the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, each of whom serves a two-year term. The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and the Honorary Chairman provide the organization with high-level world leadership. They play an important role in ICC section, strategic direction for ICC is provided by its Executive Board, consisting of up to 30 business leaders and ex-officio members. It is elected by the World Council on the recommendation of the Chairmanship, meeting three times a year, the Executive Board oversees the establishment of ICC’s strategic priorities and the implementation of its policies. The ICC International Secretariat, based in Paris, is the arm of ICC. It develops and carries out ICC’s work programme, feeding business views into intergovernmental organizations on issues directly affect business operations. The International Secretariat is led by the Secretary General, who is appointed by the World Council, in 92 of the world’s nations, members have established formal ICC structures called national committees
3.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
4.
European Free Trade Association
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The European Free Trade Association is a regional trade organisation and Free trade area consisting of four European states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The organisation operates in parallel with the European Union, and all the four member states participate in the EUs single market, the Stockholm Convention, to establish the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the Swedish capital by seven countries. On 3 May 1960, the EFTA was established serving as a trade bloc for the European states who were unable or unwilling to join the then European Economic Community. Today, only two founding members remain, Norway and Switzerland, the other five of which were Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom. While the EFTA is not a union and member states have full rights to enter into bilateral third-country trade arrangements. As a result, its states have jointly concluded Free trade agreements with a number of other countries. Switzerland has a set of agreements with the EU instead. On 12 January 1960, the Treaty on the European Free Trade Association was initiated in the Golden Hall of the Princes Palace of Stockholm and this established the progressive elimination of customs duties on industrial products, but did not affect agricultural products or maritime trade. This was rather less than the increase enjoyed by countries inside the EEC, after the accession of Denmark, Ireland, and the UK to the EEC in January 1973, the EFTA began to falter. For this reason, most countries eased or eliminated their trade tariffs in preparation to join the EEC, then, four members remained, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. The interactive Free Trade Map gives an overview of the partners worldwide, the Portugal Fund was established in 1975 when Portugal was still a member of EFTA. It was to provide funding for the development of Portugal after the Carnation Revolution and this followed the period of economic sanctions by most of the international community, having left Portugal economically underdeveloped compared to the rest of the western Europe. When Portugal left EFTA in 1985 in order join the EEC, the Fund originally took the form of a low-interest loan from the EFTA member states to Portugal, to the value of $US100 million. Repayment was originally to commence in 1988, however EFTA then decided to postpone the start of repayments until 1998, the Portugal Fund has now been dissolved by the member states of EFTA. The founding members of the EFTA were Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, during the 1960s, these countries were often referred to as the Outer Seven, as opposed to the Inner Six of the then European Economic Community. Finland became a member in 1961 and a full member in 1986. The United Kingdom and Denmark joined the EEC in 1973, Portugal also left EFTA for the European Community in 1986. Liechtenstein joined the EFTA in 1991, Austria, Sweden, and Finland joined the EU in 1995 and thus ceased to be EFTA members
5.
Carnet de Passages en Douane
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The Carnet de Passages en Douane is a customs document that identifies a travellers motor vehicle or other valuable equipment or baggage. It is required in order to take a vehicle into a significant. The Carnet allows travellers to temporarily import their vehicles, or other items of value such as broadcasting equipment and it is, in essence, an international guarantee for payment of customs duties and taxes to a government should the vehicle or item not be re-exported from that country. The Carnet contains relevant information about the items or vehicle – make, model, colour, engine capacity, seating capacity, registration number, owner and value. In order to obtain a carnet, the owner of the items is required to provide a security based on the traveled to, age. Generally four types of security are acceptable from motoring organisations, Cash bond, Bankers letter of indemnity, motorists can typically obtain a Carnet de Passages en Douane from their national automobile association or touring club. The U. S. and Canada are an exception where a private company experienced in ATA Carnets. Additionally, the RAC recently stopped issuing CPDs, UK residents can apply for CPDs through other guaranteeing associations including those in the EU and US. The map below is based on the Overlanding Associations website, which is updated with additional information
6.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
7.
Chinese Taipei
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Following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was annexed by Japan. The KMT, however, retreated to the occupied Taiwan, thus becoming government in exile, most democratic countries continued to support the Nationalist government while communist nations recognize the Communist government. The ROC needed to come to a conclusion to how it would be referred when there was in the same forum participation by the PRC. The International Olympic Committee, had informally been using in international Olympic activities a number of names to differentiate the ROC from the PRC, Taiwan was used at the Tokyo Games. In 1979, the PRC agreed to participate in IOC activities if the Republic of China was referred to as Chinese Taipei. The Nagoya Resolution sanctioned that the Beijing Olympic Committee would be called the Chinese Olympic Committee, what people refer to as Taiwan is one of several areas or islands and Taiwan alone did not reflect the “territorial extent” of the ROC. Some wines from Kinmen are labeled “made in Kinmen, ” just as some perfume is labeled “made in Paris” and not “made in France. ”Taiwans own government and it regarded the term Chinese Taipei as both acceptably neutral and hopeful of assent from other interested parties. Beijing accepted the position that the ROC Olympic Committee could be named the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. In April 1979, in a session of the IOC, He Zhenliang. However, its anthem, flag and constitutions should be changed correspondingly, the National Olympic Committee of the ROC boycotted the Summer and Winter Games in protest of not being allowed to use the Republic of Chinas official flag and national anthem. The name Chinese Taipei was formally accepted by the Government of the Republic of China in 1981, a flag bearing the emblem of its Olympic Committee against a white background as the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag was confirmed in January 1981. The agreement was signed on March 23 in Lausanne by Shen Chia-ming, the President of Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, and Juan Antonio Samaranch, in 1983, the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China was chosen as the anthem of the Chinese Taipei delegation. The Republic of China has competed under this flag and name exclusively at each Games since the 1984 Winter Olympics, as well as at the Paralympics, both the Republic of China and the Peoples Republic of China agree to use the English name Chinese Taipei. This is possible because of the ambiguity of the English word Chinese, since then, and until 1989 the PRC translated Chinese Taipei as Zhongguo Taipei, similar to Zhongguo Hong Kong, connoting that Taipei is a part of the Chinese state. By contrast, the Republic of China government translated it as Zhonghua Taipei in Chinese, in 1981 the former Republic of China Olympic Committee confirmed its acceptance of the Nagoya resolution, but translated Chinese Taipei to Zhonghua Taipei. In 1989, the two Olympic committees signed a pact in Hong Kong, clearly defining the use of Zhonghua Taipei, in Beijing 2008 it followed Japan and preceded the Central African Republic. This ordering was based on the number and order of each teams name in simplified Chinese. Other East Asian nations have also had to make unique translation decisions, in Japan, the PRC is referred to by its official Japanese name Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku, but an English transliteration, Chainīzu Taipei, is used for Chinese Taipei
