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Australia and India have agreed to an annual cycle of joint working group to promote closer cooperation between their customs agencies.
The joint working group mechanism will focus on sharing of technical expertise, people exchange and information exchange, the Chief Executive of Australian Customs and Border Protection, Mike Puzzello, said.
Information sharing Plans are afoot to move from a transaction-by-transaction-based approach to information sharing to a more institutionalised arrangement, Puzzello told BusinessLine in an interview.
Puzzello, who was here for the inaugural meeting of the Joint Working Group, said both sides would work towards rapid dissemination of information, if not real time information exchange.
Asked to comment on the current level of cooperation between the customs agencies of the two counties, he said it was good. “It can be much better now that the Prime Ministers of both the countries have set very ambitious goals and targets to achieve,” he added.
Besides the bilateral talks with the Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairperson J M Shanthi Sundharam, Puzzello also met Director Generals of Narcotics Control Board and Indian Coast Guard.
In his meetings, Puzzello discussed regional security issues not just in the Indian Ocean but across the broader Asia-Pacific region. “Australia and India should think as to how their bilateral partnership can be used to drive regional leadership”, he added. While India was the past Chair of Indian Ocean Regional Association, Australia is the current Chair.
“One of the consistent discussion points was how do we work together across the Indian Ocean region to facilitate legitimate trade and travel and work against smugglers, criminals and terrorists”, he said.
Trusted, tried out Australia intends to investigate the Indian Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) programme put in place by customs authorities here.
This will help Australia in rolling out its Trusted, Tried Out Programme— equivalent of AEO — from, say, July 1, 2016. The programme is now the preferred model for customs collaboration around the world.
The biggest benefit of the programme is a dramatic reduction in paperwork for companies and cutting down of red tape, Puzzello said, adding that mutual recognition of each other's programme was also a distinct possibility in the coming years.
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