This book will take the reader through the past, the present, and into the future of the flagship institution of the international customs community: the World Customs Organization (WCO). The purpose is to present to the reader, in a comprehensive, orderly, and synthetic manner, the enormous contributions that this prestigious and recognized institution has been making to the secure growth of global international trade. In the development of the text, special consideration has been given to the relevant instruments in day-to-day customs work, which constitute the bases of the WCO (the Harmonized System Convention, the Revised Kyoto Convention, and the SAFE Framework of Standards, among many others), as well as those issues that are currently of specific interest to the global customs community (cross-border e-commerce, trade facilitation, and authorized economic operator, to mention but a few), trying to reconcile the various practical aspects of customs operations with their theoretical underpinnings. In the final part, the book turns to the future of customs, analyzing the most pressing challenges presented by technological advances, including the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and blockchain. In short, this book will be of great interest to all foreign trade operators, mainly to customs officials, customs brokers, carriers and international forwarding agents, managers of importing and exporting companies, as well as all those (professionals and students) who wish to deepen their knowledge of the exciting world of customs and international trade.

Although customary international law has long been an important source of rights and obligations in international relations, there has been extensive debate in recent years about whether this body of law is equipped to address complex modern problems such as climate change, international terrorism, and global financial instability. In addition, there is growing uncertainty about how, precisely, international and domestic courts should identify rules of customary international law. Custom's Future seeks to address this uncertainty by providing a better understanding of how customary international law has developed over time, the way in which it is applied in practice, and the challenges that it faces going forward. Reflecting an interdisciplinary mix of historical, empirical, economic, philosophical, and doctrinal analysis, and containing chapters by leading international law experts, it will be of use to lawyers, judges, and researchers alike.

The Future of Customs in the EU 2040 report is an outcome of a year-long foresight process. Its aim is to support strategic reflection on the future of the European Union's Customs Union, its relevance and its effectiveness in the long-term. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) undertook the project in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD). Being participatory and multidisciplinary is an inherent part of any foresight process, and thus it involved all relevant stakeholder groups: including representatives of EU Member States, key trading partners, trade associations, businesses, consumer organisations, international organisations, academia, and different services and Directorates-General of the European Commission. Foresight serves policymakers in identifying, understanding and directing change, and hence supports the creation of policies that are more robust and fit for the long-term future. To that end, four scenarios of how customs in the European Union could look in 2040, have been created. Further, the exploration of the scenarios and insights from the process fed into a vision-building process, which resulted in a co-created vision for EU Customs in 2040. The foresight process also included a first reflection on how the vision can be reached. Part I of the report presents the summarized outcomes of the foresight methods used, and Part II provides detailed outputs and methodology. The step-by-step process descriptions in Part II can be useful for future foresight initiatives in customs or related policy areas.

From 1854 to 1952, the Chinese Maritime Customs Service delivered one-third to one-half of all revenue available to China’s central authorities. Much more than a tax collector, the institution managed China’s harbors and surveyed the Chinese coast. It oversaw a college training Chinese diplomats; translated legal, philosophical, economic, and scientific documents; organized contributions to international exhibitions; and pioneered China’s modern postal system. After the 1911 Revolution, the agency began managing China’s international loans and domestic bond issues, and in the 1930s, it created a coast guard to combat smuggling. The Customs Service was central to China’s post-Taiping entrance into the world of modern nation-states and twentieth-century trade and finance, and this is the first comprehensive history of the Customs Service’s activities and truly cosmopolitan nature. At times, the Service kept China together when little else did.