‘CROSS-BORDER ELECTRONIC COMMERCE’: CHALLENGES FOR CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONS AND THE WAY FORWARD

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the challenges posed by cross-border e-commerce to customs administrations and to propose measures for further improving customs operations in this area.Since the global cross-border e-commerce landscape is expanding exponentially therefore it is creating serious challenges for customs administrations regarding enforcement, compliance and trade facilitation due to limited available resources for managing such trade. This article gauges the volume of cross-border e-commerce and identifies the challenges faced by customs administrations regarding enforcement, compliance and trade facilitation. Itanalyses the genesis and evolution of the international legal framework for cross-border e-commerce and describes how the implementation of this framework empowers customs administrations to deal with this phenomenon of international trade in a more effective and efficient manner. The article underscores the need for reviewing the de minimis values. It highlights the weaknesses of the current revenue collection model for handlingcrossborder e-commerceand discusses the pros and cons of alternative revenue collection models proposed by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD). It explains how Australia has implemented vendor collection model for the collection of the General Sales Tax (GST) on e-commerce consignments. The article underlines the need to use the various instruments and tools developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for better management ofcross-border e-commerce by customs administrations. The article explains how enforcement can be improved by using blockchain technology, data analytics, Single Window environment, and advance sharing of electronic data. The article stresses the need for deeper engagement with the private partners involved in the supply chain of cross-border e-commerce for improving compliance and reducing the cost of compliance. The article describes how facilitation can be improved for e-commerce trade by taking certain measures as introduced by the Dutch Customs, Belgium Customs, and Finnish Customs. The outcome of this analysis has led to the overall conclusions of this article.