Topics: 1. Customs conventions
The Revised Kyoto Convention
Grammar revision: English verb tenses
Text 1
Customs conventions and recommendations
Since the beginning of the 20-th century, there has been a continuous effort to standardize and harmonize сustoms formalities with the aim of simplifying and facilitating international trade.
In 1923 the League of Nations signed in Geneva the International Conventionrelating to the Simplification of Customs Formalities. In 1947 the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed. In 1950 the Convention establishing Customs Cooperation Council was signed. This Council is still the only intergovernmental organization competent on Customs matters. Numerous studies carried out by the Council on the principal Customs procedures such as importation, exportation, duty-free admission, inward and outward processing, transit, warehousing, temporary admission etc., resulted in a series and recommendations designed to solve specific Customs problems.
In order to achieve its objectives, the WCO has adopted a number of customs instruments, including but not limited to the following:
1) The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS Convention) was adopted in 1983 and came into force in 1988. The HS multipurpose goods nomenclature is used as the basis for customs tariffs and for the compilation of international trade statistics. It comprises about 5000 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 HS is also used for many other purposes involving trade policy, rules of origin, monitoring of controlled goods, internal taxes, freight tariffs, transport statistics, quota controls, price monitoring, compilation of national accounts, and economic research and analysis.
2) ATA Convention and the Convention on Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention). 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 single document known as the ATA carnet that is secured by an international guarantee system.
3) The Arusha Declaration on Customs Integrity was adopted in 1993 and revised in 2003. The Arusha Declaration is a non-binding instrument which provides a number of basic principles to promote integrity and combat corruption within customs administrations.
4) The SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade was adopted in 2003. The SAFE Framework is a non-binding instrument that contains supply chain security and facilitation standards for goods being traded internationally, enables integrated supply chain management for all modes of transport, strengthens networking arrangements between customs administrations to improve their capability to detect high-risk consignments, promotes cooperation between customs and the business community through the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, and champions the seamless movement of goods through secure international trade supply chains.
WORKING ON THE TEXT
Ex.1. SKIMMING:
a.Read the headline and the first sentence of each paragraph of the text. Pair up to discuss the topic of the article.
b. Read the first paragraph and the last paragraph of the text. Then work in pairs to discuss the contents of the piece.
c. Read the text. Get into pairs to discuss the contents of the piece.
Ex.2. SCANNING:
a. While scanning the text find the answers for content-specific questions given by the teacher.
b.While scanning the text pick out the sentences containing the key words given by the teacher.
Ex.3. READING:Read and translate the text.
Ex.4. TEXT QUESTIONS: Look back at the text and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
- Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
- Ask your partner / group your questions.
Ex.5. CHAT:Discuss with your classmates the key ideas of the text.
Ex.6. 1. TRUE / FALSE: Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
| a. | Since the beginning of the 19-th century, there has been a continuous effort to standardize and harmonize Customs formalities with the aim of simplifying and facilitating international trade. | T / F |
| b. | Customs Cooperation Council is not the only intergovernmental organization competent on Customs matters. | T / F |
| c. | The HS multipurpose goods nomenclature is used as the basis for customs tariffs and for the compilation of international trade statistics. | T / F |
| d. | The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS Convention) was adopted in 1947 and came into force in 1950. | T / F |
| e. | The Istanbul Convention is the only one WCO instrument governing temporary admission of goods. | T / F |
| f. | The Arusha Declaration is a binding instrument which provides a number of basic principles to promote integrity and combat corruption within customs administrations. | T / F |
| g. | The goods are covered by a single document known as the ATA carnet that is secured by an international guarantee system. | T / F |
| h. | The HS is also used for many other purposes involving trade policy, rules of origin, monitoring of controlled goods, internal taxes, freight tariffs, transport statistics, quota controls, price monitoring, compilation of national accounts, and economic research and analysis. | T / F |
Ex.7. GAP FILL: Fill in the gaps in the given sentences, using the words on the right
| Since the beginning of the 20-th century, there has been a continuous effort to _____ and ______ Customs formalities with the aim of simplifying and ______ international trade. In 1923 the League of Nations signed in Geneva the International Convention relating to the Simplification of _____ _____. In 1947 was signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. In 1950 the Convention establishing Customs Cooperation Council was signed. This Council is still the only _____ organization competent on Customs matters. Numerous studies carried out by the Council on the principal Customs procedures such as _____, exportation, ___ ___ _____, inward and outward processing, transit, warehousing, temporary admission etc., resulted in a series and recommendations designed _____ specific Customs problems. In order to achieve its objectives, the WCO has adopted a number of ___ ___, including but not limited to the following: The HS multipurpose goods ___ is used as the basis for ___ ___ and for the compilation of international trade statistics. It comprises about 5000 ___ ___ , each identified by a ___ ___ ___ arranged in a legal and logical structure with ___-___ rules to achieve ___ classification. The HS is also used for many other purposes involving trade policy, ___ ___, monitoring of controlled goods, ___ ___, freight tariffs, transport statistics, ___ ___, ___ ___, ___ of national accounts, and ____ ___ and analysis. | internal taxes uniform six digit code commodity groups customs tariffs economic research nomenclature customs instruments to solve quota controls duty-free admission importation intergovernmental Customs Formalities facilitating standardize harmonize well-defined rules of origin price monitoring compilation |
Ex.8. VOCABULARY: Circle the words you do not understand. In groups, pick out unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
Ex.9. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recalll the situations they were used in the text:
| internal taxes uniform six digit code commodity groups customs tariffs economic research nomenclature customs instruments to solve quota controls | duty-free admission importation intergovernmental Customs Formalities facilitating standardize harmonize well-defined rules of origin price monitoring |
Ex.10. SUMMARY: Write down a Summary of this text.
Ex.11. SPEECH: Prepare a speech on this topic.
Text 2