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The EU and China are strategic partners, both committed to promoting reform and openness thereby increasing trust and confidence in one another, especially in economic and trade cooperation. The both sides’ economic interdependence is threatened and challenged by the transcend borders and continental boundaries. In opening the conference, the EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Algirdas Šemeta said: “the future of international trade lies in good relationships: building bridges today is vital for keeping tomorrow's trade flowing and generating new sources of wealth. It is also vital for promoting mutual understanding, which is at the core of lasting peace and stability, regionally and worldwide”.

Main points in cooperation

Specifically, the conference about EU-China customs cooperation includes several main points:

First, Shanghai deserves a special attention as the main economic, trading and financial centre of China and the host of the World Expo-2010. The city boasts the world's busiest seaport by cargo traffic; it is a major aviation hub in Asia and connects the vast and thriving Yangtze River Delta with the rest of the world. The city is famous for its extraordinary dynamism and constant development.

Second, the EU and China are strategic partners, both committed to promoting reform and openness thereby increasing trust and confidence in one another, especially in economic and trade cooperation. Two sides have become economically interdependent: the threats and challenges transcend borders and continental boundaries. The future of international trade lies in good relationships: building bridges today is vital for keeping tomorrow's trade flowing and generating new sources of wealth. It is also vital for promoting mutual understanding, which is at the core of lasting peace and stability, regionally and worldwide.

Third, the importance of EU-China customs cooperation. The days when customs' primary role was to collect import duties are long gone. Modern customs has a much widened role as it must ensure the smooth flow of legitimate trade and, at the same time, protect citizens from risks posed by international trade: fraud, terrorism, organised crime, and intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements. By stopping the illegal traffic of goods, customs contributes to the healthy functioning of the global economy and to citizens’ welfare.

This mission can be carried out only though closer international cooperation between customs administrations; national policies alone are ineffective unless they are supported by enhanced international cooperation to promote coherence and economize on administrative resources.

The EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Algirdas Šemeta, underlined that the EU’s efforts to develop cooperation with China should be seen in this context, both bilaterally and multilaterally, for instance in the World Customs Organisation.

China and the EU have a major stake in ensuring uninterrupted flows of legitimate merchandise across borders. China is the EU’s second largest trading partner and a first source of import.

The EU is China's number one trading partner and largest export market, with almost 20% of Chinese export destined for Europe. In 2009, EU-China trade totaled about € 300 billion; latest data show a 20% increase in EU-China trade in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, said the EU Commissioner.

Fourth, increased trade brings serious challenges: China remains the main source of counterfeited and pirated goods in the world; in 2009, about 64% of goods detained in Europe for IPR violations came from China. In addition to the grave consequences for innovation and legitimate jobs, illegitimate trade threatens the safety and health of citizens; it fosters protectionism, because it undermines trust in trade and in the rule of law.

In this context, tobacco sector represents specific attention: China is the main source of counterfeit cigarettes in the EU, where the illicit tobacco market results in tax and duty losses of € 10 billion annually and impacts significantly on legitimate business interests.

Fighting illegitimate trade more effectively, while promoting legitimate trade is in the mutual interest of both partners. The benefits of trade facilitation depend crucially on ways to effectively combat illicit trade. It is against this background that EU-China customs cooperation is particularly important.

Fifth, is that the EU is prepared to strengthen customs cooperation with China. The recognition of increasing interaction and mutual interest is the driving force of cooperation, which was established in 2005 signing the first bilateral EU-China Customs Cooperation Agreement.

Starting with mutual administrative assistance and the launching, in 2006, of a pilot project to test the World Customs Organisation’s Safe Framework of Standards, the two sides extended cooperation in 2009 with the signature of the Action Plan on IPR enforcement. In this way, the EU and China have gradually developed a dense network of contacts and activities. EU experts from the European Commission and the EU member states, and Chinese experts now hold regular contacts and work closely to implement mutual commitments.

Customs cooperation

The EU’s present political message is unequivocal: the EU is prepared to continue and further enhance customs cooperation with China. The European Commission greatly values the openness and interest of China Customs in organising joint activities; the EU expects some practical results for consumers, employees and businesses. The expansion of trade is good for jobs and for productivity growth; the consumer safety, investments in innovation and jobs are not to be compromised by illegitimate trade.

The both sides have developed some tools and activities, e.g. the IPR Action Plan and the Smart and Secure Trade Lanes Pilot Project. A lot of preparatory work has been put into these exercises and the EU and China need to make the best use of these tools to deliver practical results for security, safety and IPR enforcement, acknowledged the Commissioner.

The EU and China are strongly interested in establishing a more ambitious and dynamic cooperation strategy, one where progress in supply chain security, IPR enforcement and in the fight against fraud proceeds in a balanced way through mutual recognition of controls, mutual exchange of information and mutual administrative assistance in support of the facilitation of legitimate trade.

The EU supported recent China’s initiative, the so-called 3M initiative, which is important for the future development of EU-China customs cooperation. The latter significantly influence the future of supply chain management worldwide. Both sides have shared interests and a great responsibility in developing this cooperation and shaping the future of customs.

Conference’s outcomes

The 5th meeting of the EU-China Joint Customs Cooperation Committee takes place in the first decade of September, to discuss joint work under the bilateral Customs Agreement. The Agreement could provide an important feedback to the work of the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee.

The should generate ideas and proposals regarding the role of customs in the face of the modern challenges and the future of EU-China customs cooperation. In particular, the discussions should debate the essential components of a balanced EU-China customs cooperation strategy and ways to implement them effectively. The issue of forging strong partnerships between business and customs is a crucial element in this debate.

There are many specific issues for discussion: how should customs evolve to successfully manage the international supply chain; how can customs, in cooperation with other stakeholders, protect the supply chain from terrorism and organised crime; what can European and Chinese customs do to eradicate the trade in goods that violate intellectual property rights and to stop fraudulent activities?

Answering these questions would guarantee open and result-oriented expert discussions, learning from each other's experience to achieve results that make a real difference for traders and citizens alike. The Baltic States can have great advantages in better EU-China Customs cooperation.