Business Continuity Planning Guidance

Recent events such as COVID-19, unstable geopolitics, mass labour shortages, and evolving government regulations clearly indicate fundamental changes across all industries and the necessity for being prepared for the unexpected. Business contingency planning and a crisis management system is necessary for future resilience, especially for customs and border clearance procedures.

FIATA’s Customs Affairs Institute (CAI) has launched a business continuity planning guidance for customs and border clearance. This guidance provides practical tips for freight forwarders and customs administrations to be prepared for current and future crises.


At a glance:
 

• Lessons learned from the pandemic and other recent events show that businesses and countries who were able to quickly put into action business continuity or emergency/crisis plans, generally responded quicker and had better results in times of uncertainty.

• FIATA encourages the freight forwarding community and customs authorities to take stock of lessons learned and put in place business continuity procedures that incorporate best practices such as:
  • Digital customs clearance
  • Coordinated and collaborative approach for more simple and efficient goods clearance
  • Accessible Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes with tangible benefits
  • Ensure a closer cooperation of customs authorities, private sector and other trade facilitation measures.

• The development of such procedures will ensure better preparedness and resilience and will help freight forwarders and other supply chain actors around the world to shield themselves from future unplanned disruptions in the interests of the continuity of international trade.