Assessment item 3: Customs and Excise
Brief: Advice on amending the Revised Kyoto Conven
Introduction
This assignment is designed to test your understanding of the way in which the Revised Kyoto Convention works as a legal document. Please note the required format is a briefing paper. You are required to provide the Director-General (DG) of the Catdom Customs agency with a briefing paper on the issue set out below.
One role of Legal Advisers in Customs is to examine the potential for a Convention to which you are a party to be amended and made more up-to-date to reflect changing global circumstances. In this assignment you are being tasked by the DG to advise him on the potential for the amendment of Specific Annex C of the Revised Kyoto Convention. This will require you to write a brief of no more than 2000 words in which you will need to explain to the DG the process for amending the Specific Annex, some key principles which you believe should be included in any revised version of the Annex (including proposed drafts of those principles in the same format as existing RKC Standards and Recommended Practices), and the best way for the DG to proceed with his/her initiative.
NOTE: For the purpose of this assignment you should assume that Catdom is both a signatory to the RKC and Specific Annex C.
The Problem
Since attending his first WCO Council Meeting earlier in the year, the new Director-General has taken a much deeper interest in the WCO. He has read the Revised Kyoto Convention closely and has sent you, as his legal adviser, the following note:
As you know, the WCO has instituted a comprehensive review of the Revised Kyoto Convention.I have been studying the Convention quite closely and, while it is clearly a very useful instrument, there is no doubt that events have moved along since it was concluded in 1999. While there is scope for it to be amended in several respects, it seems to me to be particularly lacking in one area. The Specific Annex on Exports – Specific Annex C – is very short of material. I have become very conscious however that we as a Customs agency are expected by the Government to pay much more attention to exports than may have been the case in the past. This is because of the Government’s determination to comply with SAFE and related recommendations on supply chain security, because we have obligations in relation to weapons and other proscribed goods to prohibit or control their export, and also because there is substantial potential for fraud if goods that are reported as having been exported are in fact still in the country.
I think that many of my colleagues in other countries face the same issues. Certainly, they are all committed to maintaining supply chain security and in developing our communications links to develop closer cooperation in this field. Assuming the Review provides a broad forum for the consideration of new ideas from all parties to the Convention, I would see it as quite likely that a complete re-appraisal of Specific Annex C would be welcomed by many of my fellow DGs.
I am therefore giving serious consideration to introducing an initiative into the Review process which would seek the amendment of Specific Annex C to bring it up to date with all these developments in relation to export controls.
Before taking this further, I need your advice on the following matters:
- What is the normal process for amending the Revised Kyoto Convention? What steps would I normally need to take to begin amending Specific Annex C? (I am not sure how changes proposed in the review will be introduced. Any guidance you can find on that would also be welcome.)
- What SAFE Standards would you see as desirable for inclusion in Specific Annex C so that it would give effect to the key provisions of SAFE on supply chain security? (I would like this part to be quite succinct and to include no more than 5 standards, with a brief argument in support of each one).
- What standards relating to controls on prohibited exports do you think are needed and not included elsewhere in the Convention?
Respond to the DG’s note with a briefing paper addressing the three dot points above (and any other issues which you believe need to be covered) in no more than 2000 words. Your brief should focus on the legal issues involved, but your advice should also be tempered by any practical or political matters which you think might work for or against the DG’s initiative.
Structure
Your brief should be structured in 4 parts as follows:
Part 1 – Introduction – Up to 150 words
Outline the purpose of the brief and the structure you intend to follow.
Part 2 – Procedures for amendment – Up to 500 words
Provide the DG with a succinct but full account of the process required for amendment of the Convention, drawing on the rules in the Convention itself. Explain clearly to the DG what factors he/she would need to consider if he/she decides to proceed. (NB: This will depend on which part of the Convention is to be addressed.)
Part 3 – Provisions for inclusion – Up to 1200 words
Advise the DG on the key standards and/or recommended practices (RPs) which you would see as essential for amending Specific Annex C. Provide both a rationale for these standards/ RPs etc and a form of words consistent with other standards in the Convention.
Part 4- Conclusions – up to 150 words
Conclude your paper by advising the DG on what steps to take next to bring the proposed amendment before the WCO. You should also advise the DG if you have any concerns about the likely success of his proposed initiative.
RATIONALE
This assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s:
- be able to identify and critically assess the sources of international customs law including key international instruments affecting Customs operations
- be able to analyse critically issues that may arise in the customs environment in the context of international legal requirements
- be able to demonstrate an ability to contribute to policy-making processes which impact on customs practice and procedure with appropriate reference to relevant international conventions
- be able to identify and evaluate critically customs law issues and their implications for regulatory practice.
- be able to formulate appropriate and well-developed approaches to policy, practice and procedure in accordance with international legal requirements and obligations and be able to communicate those approaches to others.