Customs. A real hassle and a nuisance at times, but also a necessary evil in international trade. “Evil” is perhaps the wrong word here, although having been questioned by customs officers at Melbourne airport once, playing the Devil’s Advocate seemed to be their favorite game, so evil isn’t that wrong, as far as my experience goes. Anyway, every global supply chain must at some point cross some border and that is where customs comes into play. You might think that customs is not much of a field for academic research, but in fact it is, and every year since 2006 the World Customs Organization WCO has held a conference where practice and theory can meet. The WCO Partnership In Customs Academic Research and Development Conference 2011 or PICARD Conference 2011 will be in Switzerland Geneva, 14-16 September, with a focus on these four issues: Co-ordinated Border Management, Performance measurement of Customs, Economic security and poverty reduction, and Integrity.

Continue reading →