Considered in a context of trade globalization as a survival of a time when States were defined by their topographic limits, lived in a closed field of borders, and in any case as an “impediment to trade in circles”, the Customs are finding a topicality that few have been able to anticipate.
This is evidenced by the place reserved for this function in the vast majority of companies working internationally: it is relegated in organizational charts to the rank of a second-class support function. It is sometimes attributed to finance, behind tax and insurance, and sometimes to logistics, where a presupposed antinomy is expressed, as misleading as it is harmful to efficiency, between the imperatives of fluidity, speed, and regulatory constraints. When it is not, within the TPI, PMI-SME, the accounting department which is in charge, with variable competences, of managing the aforementioned function.
And yet…
How can we deny, after a major health crisis, the resurgence of conflicts, not to mention climatic events of unprecedented magnitude, that perfect control of supply and distribution chains, knowledge of flows and the costs they generate, are vitally important issues?
No one can ensure that these challenges are met better than Customs, thanks to the permanent knowledge it provides of all the parameters that make up these chains.
From the origin and nature of the goods to their value, including their traceability during transport and the costs that these incur.
Elements that support a declarative process that, unfortunately, too often acts as a tree hiding the forest in the eyes of many decision makers.
Finally, if one had to finish convincing oneself of its interest, it would be enough to measure the structuring effect on the company of the status of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) that the Administration grants to the one that guarantees a high level of Safety-Security of its organization, of its activities and a perfect regulatory compliance.
These are all reasons to raise the status of a poorly valued function to the highest level.
Article written by François Mion , Founder of Diogel Consulting
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