ICAO, IMO and WCO strengthen key ties promoting global supply chain security

Secretaries General Raymond Benjamin (left, ICAO), Koji Sekimizu (centre, IMO) and the Kunio Mikuriya (right, WCO) at their meeting at IMO headquarters in London. The three high-ranking officials made good headway on enhancing collaboration between their Organizations on aviation, border and maritime security and facilitation issues.

The Secretaries General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) met at IMO headquarters in London yesterday to enhance collaboration between their organizations on aviation, border and maritime security and facilitation.

Secretaries General Raymond Benjamin (left, ICAO), Koji Sekimizu (centre, IMO) and the Kunio Mikuriya (right, WCO) at their meeting at IMO headquarters in London. The three high-ranking officials made good headway on enhancing collaboration between their Organizations on aviation, border and maritime security and facilitation issues.

Raymond Benjamin (ICAO), Koji Sekimizu (IMO) and the WCO’s Kunio Mikuriya welcomed the opportunity for a strategic dialogue on supply chain risk management issues that cut across the mandates of the international organizations. ICAO and the IMO perform their roles as specialized agencies of the United Nations, while the WCO is an independent intergovernmental body.

“ICAO fully supports any measures to promote more effective cooperation on international supply chain security objectives,” stressed ICAO’s Benjamin. “The aviation community has long recognized that the constantly evolving threats posed by global terrorism must be met with highly coordinated transportation security and border control measures. Coordination and cooperation, with partners such as the IMO and WCO, helps us to better anticipate and mitigate these threats while minimizing adverse impacts on international passenger and trade flows.”

“A sustainable maritime transportation system is reliant on a smooth and efficient supply chain and it is essential that we work together to mitigate any potential threats. A key element of this is building partnerships to support technical assistance and cooperation, particularly in the developing countries and in any high-risk areas, to address vulnerabilities in global supply chain security and create opportunities to enhance trade facilitation,” said IMO’s Sekimizu.

Mikuriya of the WCO meanwhile highlighted that: “Meaningful, dynamic and effective partnerships at the international level are critical to how all our Organizations meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the 21st century border and trade environment. Today’s globalized trade and travel requires new thinking, coordinated approaches and connectivity between all stakeholders to efficiently secure and facilitate legitimate trade, support economic competitiveness and provide protection to societies.”

The three international organizations also reviewed progress toward harmonizing their respective international frameworks for aviation, border and maritime supply chain security and facilitation.