Trade facilitation is aimed to eliminate barriers in the movement of cargoes across borders in international trade, reduce transaction costs, enhance customs clearance efficiency and provide convenience to trade and investment. Trade facilitation is one of the four items of the “Singapore agenda”, but the WTO members haven’t yet come to a multilateral agreement on it. With the rapid developments of economic globalization and international trade prompting the innovations of modern logistics, the business world has an increasingly strong demand for trade facilitation. Although not imposed with the responsibility of pushing forward the trade facilitation, Shanghai is now propelling the development of trade facilitation to enhance its exportation, logistic industry and the service at the ports.
Three years after China’s accession to the WTO, the Shanghai Customs and the Port Authorities have been making unswervingly endeavour to achieve higher trade efficiency and security, under the working guideline of “legally enforcing laws and regulations related to customs operations and providing excellent services for exporters and importers to prompt the economic development”.
ⅠPushing forward the establishment of the Electronic Port
Taking advantage of modern information technology, the network of the customs, the entry-exit inspection and quarantine administration, the industrial and commercial administration and such relevant departments as those engaged in international trade, tax, foreign exchange and transportation could now be interconnected. Through the interconnected network, electronic data pertaining to import and export, capital flow and cargoes can thus be transmitted to the Electronic Port of China, which is a public data center. The relevant authorities can conduct cross-department and cross-industry data checking and retrieving while enterprises can carry out online importing and exporting procedures through the interconnected network such as customs declaration, tax refunding after exportation, foreign exchange writing-off and online payment. On October 25, 2004, the Customs General Administration of PRC and the Shanghai Municipal Government signed the Co-operational Memorandum of the Establishment of the Shanghai Electronic Port. It marks the launching of the Shanghai Electronic Port composed of a portal, platforms foe customs clearance, logistic services and value-added services and a call center. When in service, it indicates the new stride of the Shanghai Port computerization progress.
Since China’s accession to the WTO, Shanghai has been pushing the logistic control onto a new level. The Shanghai Customs installed GPS on vehicles carrying customs controlled cargoes to conduct real time surveillance on the routs and moving time of these vehicles. In the exit passageways of the first and second phase of the Waigaoqiao Port, customs surveillance equipment was installed and networked with the customs’ logistic control platform to performing computerizing operation in all the exit passageways of the two port areas. Furthermore, the non-intrusive inspection conducted by H986 container inspection system began to be applied to import and export cargoes. Special locations such as free trade areas and export processing zones are isolated from the surrounding area, which are maintained by around-the –clock security patrols, both at the entry points and within the areas.
Box 11.1 Launching of a Pilot Project of E-account books Networking for the Processing Trade
Based on the reform of the traditional way of processing trade, the Shanghai Customs has launched a pilot project for management through the networks in the processing trade since mid-August 2002. Under this scheme, using the China Electronic Port as the data interchange platform, the networks of enterprises and trade supervising authorities are connected with that of the customs to transmit and process the data on submission for approval, filing, contract modification, declaration for customs and auditing by processing trade businesses. Up to now, 83 enterprises have generated their e-account books, 56 of which have started normal operation. Volumes of processing trade now take up 41.2% of the total volumes of the import and export. The time needed to conduct commodity items filing has decreased to within 6 hours from 5 working days and the time for commodity items modification has been shorten to within 1.5 to 2 hour from 3 working days.
Ⅱ Propelling the Easy Clearance System
To improve the customs clearance efficiency, the customs and the related authorities at the Port have set up a mechanism to enhance the port working efficiency and started the project of the Easy Clearance System. . Integrating resources of relevant authorities at the Port and strengthening the co-operation between the customs and these authorities, the city has established a managerial pattern of administrative coordination, centralized information platform, forwarded or back-warded procedures and swift clearance of cargoes and provided enterprises with “one-stop” services, thus improving the customs clearance efficiency. A survey shows that the average time for customs clearance at the Shanghai Port in 2003 was 0.73 days (equal to 17.52 hours), 18.9% less than in 2001 when 0.9 days ( equal to 21.6 hours )was required. Time spent on customs procedures deceased to 17% of that consumed for the whole clearance work, 19% down compared with 21% in 2001.
Measures taken for the Easy Clearance system:
1. Reforms on customs clearance mode
The Shanghai Customs has implemented the new clearance mode of “Quarantine and Declaration in Advance and Immediate Clearance of Cargoes on Arrival”. The new mode requires that the data of shipping bills be transmitted in advance to the relevant authorities for early processing before the cargoes arrive so that upon arrival, they can be claimed immediately. The application of the new clearance mode considerably speeds up the transportation of the cargoes. Now, nearly a quarter of the import and export cargoes in the Shanghai Port are processed through the new mode, with an average time of 2.88 hours spent on customs procedure, 86% less than through the traditional mode.
Referring to international practices, the Shanghai Port has experimented EDI paperless clearance on import and export cargoes. EDI paperless clearance, taking advantage of information technology and network control through electronic ports, is a particular clearance mode resorting to the automatic clearance system to process the formatted data of import and export cargoes. EDI paperless clearance operation is characterized by its high automation, speediness, low costs and strict control. The EDI paperless clearance is now undergoing trial in 1,048 enterprises at the Shanghai Port, accepting 2,800 bills every day, and reducing the clearance time spent on import and export by 27% and 85% respectively compared with the paper-based normal clearance operation.
To support the development of high-tech industry, convenient clearance passageways for speedy documents handling and electronic document inspection have been established for high-tech enterprises with proven good business integrity. Under the guarantee of a certain bank, the cargoes are released beforehand and taxes paid later. The convenient clearance measures, supported by other measures such as pre-classification and pre-valuation, help high-tech enterprises achieve speedy clearance. In normal cases, it only takes two hours for the imported cargoes to complete all customs clearance procedures.
To cope with the rapid development of the regional economy, the Shanghai Customs has launched the speedy clearance across customs areas. The speedy clearance across customs areas adopts a working mode of “Release upon One Declaration and One Inspection”. The implementation of speedy clearance across customs areas helps alleviate constraints on transshipments, simplify customs clearance procedures to enhance transshipment efficiency and reduce the claiming time of cargoes imported by inland enterprises and declaration and discharging time of cargoes exported by the inland enterprises. As an effective measure to drive forward the integrated operation of inland customs and coastal customs, it improves the investment environment of the central and western regions in China.
The tariffs and other import and export fees incurred in the process of customs clearance can all be paid to the Shanghai Customs through the EDI system. Through the electronic platform of the Easy Clearance System, the EDI tax and fee payment system of the Customs is connected with the computer systems of relevant banks. The enterprises opening an ordinary bank account and obtaining the IC cards can send pay- to- the-bank orders through the telephone lines. As soon as the customs receives the payment information from the computer network, the customs will release the import or export cargoes. The EDI system supported by digital signing technology is characterized by its punctuality, simple procedures, self-decisiveness, high level of security. It can be applied to all tariffs and import and export taxes to be collected in the customs clearance procedures.
2. Implementation of the 5-plus-2-days Working Schedule
Since October 1, 2003, the Shanghai Port has been running the 5-plus-2-days working mechanism, first of its kind in the country, to provide enterprises with seven days of customs clearance in every week, thus offering the same services as usual at the working sites of the Port on Saturday and Sunday. The customs clearance, the inspection and the discharging of the cargoes all operate as on the five weekdays in accordance with the normal working mode, procedures and standard. As a reform of the traditional working schedule, the 5-plus-2-days working mechanism turns out to be an extension of the normal working schedule, different from working overtime on the two weekend days in the usual sense.
3. Reforms on the working mode of logistic control in special areas
To develop the free trade zone in Shanghai into a regional base in the Yangtze Delta region for manufacturing, trade, warehousing and logistic service, the Shanghai Customs probes actively into a new operation mode which suits the development of the free trade zone. In the free trade zone, the implementation of direct customs clearance for airborne cargoes reduces the average clearance time nearly 6 hours from 1-3 days formerly, with only 30 minutes needed for customs procedures. To meet the need of logistic enterprises practicing “zero-stock” operation mode, the Shanghai Customs applies the managerial system of “declaration collectively and discharging by lots” to all the third party logistic enterprises which satisfy certain customs requirements. Taking the advantage of favorable policies granted to the export processing zones to activate the rapid development of these zones, the Shanghai Customs has turned the export processing zones into particular zones enjoying most favorable policies, fastest clearance and simplest procedures.
(1) Carrying out the new operation mode in export processing zones to realize 4-hour-speedy-clearace
The Shanghai Customs applies a new clearance mode for air cargoes imported by enterprises in such special areas as the export processing zones. That is “customs declaration in advance and shipping bills examined afterwards, deliveries taken directly form the airport and transported immediately, cargoes controlled in real time and released at customs check-points”. The enterprises in the export processing zones make their declaration to the customs before the flights arrive and they directly take delivery at the airport and transport the cargoes with customs seal by appointed vehicles to the export processing zones. Then the cargoes go through customs clearance procedures and released at the check-points stationed in the zones. The clearance time for air cargoes from landing to arrival in the processing zones is cut down from 72 hours formerly to 4 hours, with merely 10 minutes spent on customs procedures. Firstly, it pushes forward the declaration procedure. Traditionally enterprises are only allowed to declare to the customs after the arrival of their cargoes, but they now can declare beforehand and customs checks by the shipping bills later upon the cargoes’ arrival. Secondly, it simplifies the logistic procedure. It allows the enterprises to take delivery directly from the airport and transported to the export processing, thus sparing the time usually spent on transporting the cargoes to the warehouses from the airport. Thirdly, it helps conduct close control on the cargoes. The application of the logistic control system facilitates the real time surveillance on the movement of the cargoes between the port and the export processing zones. The speedy clearance mode gives great incentive to the development of the enterprises in these zones.
(2) Conducting overall computerized management through the integration of paperless clearance and networked customs control
The Shanghai Customs established a new mode of overall networked management by integrating paperless clear with networked customs control. First, it generates e-account books for enterprises specialized in processing trade on the basis of the enterprises’ ERP systems to implementing networked control on their processing business. Meanwhile, it simplifies the filing and auditing procedures for these enterprises. Secondly, it realizes the overall computerized management of commodity filing, declaration for customs clearance and auditing, customs inspection and review, auditing and releasing. Sparing the time usually spent on paper clearance and manual modification, it meets the need of enterprises’ rapid development and enhances the efficiency of customs control. Taking the Songjiang Export Processing Zone as example, it monthly accepts 25 thousand electronic customs declaration forms, taking up 50% of the total declaration forms.
In the past, enterprises had to go to the customs house to go through all the procedures every time when they wanted to import or export a single lot of goods. In order to enhance the clearance efficiency, the Shanghai Customs developed two computerized managerial systems respectively for supervising cargoes moving inside or outside of the export processing zone and supervising cargoes moving between these special zones and applied these two systems to Shanghai’s five export processing zone ( Songjiang, Minhang, Qingpu, Caohejing and Jinqiao) and one free trade zone (Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone). Through the systems data processing has been substituted for manual work. Enterprises now can have all the items of import and export cargoes declared at one time and cargoes can be delivered before customs declaration. Time needed for customs clearance therefore decreases to nearly 2 hours from 2-3 days formerly. The all-day-round movements of cargoes from inside or outside of the export processing zone and between these special zones considerably propel the development of modern logistics.
The integration of Free Trade Zone and Port is the focus of customs bonded logistic control system. As the first of its kind in China, the Waigaoqiao Bonded Logistic Park is given the favorable policy of tariff refund upon exportation as given to free trade zones and export processing zones. After being checked and approved, it started the normal operation in July 15, 2004, with constructed warehouses amounting to 50,000 square meters and container yards reaching 140,000 square meters. Now there are 7 registered world known logistic companies in the logistic park, with the OOCL and the MOL as their representatives. Another 9 companies has signed up with the management of the park and promised to carry out customs registration within the year. Then the total investment would amount to $ 7 million. The smooth operation of the logistic park is playing a significant role in promoting the comprehensive competence of the Shanghai Port and the economic development of the Yangtze Delta region.
Ⅲ Enhancing the Transparency of Customs Legal Enforcement
Since July 1, 2001, the Shanghai Customs has formally made its website available to the public. The various columns on its web page such as Introductions to the Shanghai Customs, Laws and Regulations, Commodities Classification, Ways to Fill in the Declaration Forms, Customs Announcements, Business Tips, IPRs Protection and Updates on Cargoes and Ships, provide enterprises with overall information concerning customs clearance. Whenever the Shanghai Customs implements legal enforcements with regard to the rights or responsibilities of enterprises, it always makes announcements one month before and releases the announcements on its web page to help the enterprises get to know and even take advantage of relevant regulations to protect their lawful benefits. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Customs makes Thursday as “the Reception Day of the Commissioner” and stresses on the first consulted customs officer’s responsibility to tackle with problems enterprises encounter in the process of customs clearance.
IV Customs Valuation
After China’s entry into the WTO, the Shanghai Customs conducts customs valuation strictly in line with relevant laws and regulations to comply with the new principle of “objectivity, fairness and unity” and the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation in setting transaction prices, adopting valuation methods and regulating paid values and values to be paid, forgoing the former practice of setting referential values for important commodities. It has successfully transmitted from normally price to transaction price.
The Shanghai Customs takes a leading role in establishing the best system of Customs valuation with its striking characteristics within the framework set up by the Customs General Administration, which is a computer technology backed “scientific, standard and loophole-free” customs valuation system using transaction price as valuation basis, price information as support, risk management as means, and price monitoring plus price verification and inspection as guarantee.
1. ) Innovation of Customs Valuation through the Pre-valuation Measure
After China’s entry into the WTO, the Shanghai Customs established its valuation system in line with the relevant legal system. On the one hand, to combat falsification and smuggling through false declaration of values by some citizens and businesses lacking any law-abiding consciousness, the Shanghai Customs makes full use of price oppugning and price negotiation to verify declared values. On the other hand, in line with the characteristics of the economic development in Shanghai, the Shanghai Customs has worked out a scientific valuation process and experimented the measure of pre-valuation along with the reform on clearance operation and achieved favourable social effects.
2.) Breaking the Restraints and Establishing a New Mode with Certain Steps Moved Forward and Others Backward
In contrast with international practice, the traditional mode of customs valuation in China laid emphasis on on-the-spot price verification, but neglected follow-up auditing. Therefore, the Shanghai Customs is actively attempting to introduce a new mode of early-stage pre-valuation, on-the-spot verification, mid-term-tracking and follow-up auditing to remove the time and special restraints, improve accuracy of valuation, alleviate the pressure of clearance at port customs and safeguard the interest of importers. To secure orderly operation of the new mode, the Shanghai Customs has formulated a series of operating rules, such as the Implementing Regulations for the Valuation System, the Procedures of Customs Valuation, and the Price Surveillance System. Meanwhile, it has pushed forward the process of integration of business operation with science and technology by innovating the facilities and developing a valuation agreement application system to bring the customs valuation in line with international practices.
Box 11.2 Statistics on the recollection of overdue taxes by the Shanghai Customs valuation before and after China’s entry into the WTO
In 2001 and 2002, the Shanghai Customs altogether conducted valuation on 10,505 bills of imports with the recollection of RMB155 million of extra taxes and on 13,199 bills of imports with RMB190 million, an increase by 25.64% and 22.58% respectively. And in 2003, the figures rose to 21,760 bills with RMB 260 million of extra taxes, an increase of 36.84%. From January through November of 2004, the figures even reached 20,500 bills of imports and RMB356 million of extra taxes, up 52.2% over the same period in 2003.
3) Setting a Scientific Surveillance Standard for Valuation through Price Databank
The Shanghai Customs fully realized the importance of a scientific and complete system of price surveillance in conducting afterward inspection of declared prices and preventing the falsification or distortion of transaction prices. On the one hand, the Shanghai Customs has intensified efforts to collect and then filter price information to establish the price databank for all sorts of commodities. On the other hand, it has actively communicated with importers about price information under the system of price negotiation and examined from time to time the accuracy of the customs at all level to set a common standard for customs valuation. It also compared local price levels with those at other customs to prevent customs tariff evasion.
4) Setting up the network of regional valuation management for price regulation and coordination in the Yangtze Delta
The Shanghai Customs, taking a leading role in regulating and coordinating customs price in the Yangtze Delta, make efforts to increase the synergy of the regional valuation management through building up a platform for enhancing the sharing of the information about the cargoes of high risk, taking joint actions against price falsification, strengthening the regional valuation technological cooperation and guaranteeing the quality of tax-collection. For instance, the Ningbo Customs cracked the case of the price falsification of imported sewing machines with the help of the valuation risk report from the platform on automatic sewing machines. The evaded tax reached 1.5million with the volume of RMB 8.3 million involved in the case. In another case the members of the system, with the information from the Shanghai Customs, have solved 13 price falsifications of timber, which involved a volume of over 300 million yuan. The evaded taxes added up to over 17 million yuan RMB. With 17 people arrested, it was a crackdown on the tax-evaders.
5) A breakthrough in anti-price falsification with awareness of “Inspection against smuggling”
With awareness of innovation, high-efficiency and alertness, the Shanghai Customs has set up the alert system of price risk, crisis managing system networked with other customs and long-term operation system with businesses and companies, with full preparation of information-processing, price-inspection and overall-protection. The systems have achieved remarkable effect on cracking down on the price falsification. From January to September in 2004, about 30 cases of price falsification have been solved, covering different industries, timber, slab stone, food, food additive, chemicals and etc... The total volume involved amounted to over 200 million RMB, and the taxes evaded reached 27 million RMB.
6) An effective approach against tax-evasion with awareness of “Technology for policy -making”
With more and more multi-national companies and international agencies pouring into China, enterprises come to know how to avoid their social responsibilities through getting away with tax evading within the framework of rules and regulations. Under the guidance of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation, the Shanghai Customs therefore, based on the corresponding rules and regulations, made scientific validation and regulation on valuation cost of enterprises’ frequently-used means of tax-evasion, such as costs of royalties for licensing, price transfers of multinational companies, and so on. In practice, the approaches to evading taxes have been collected and studied, which has laid a solid foundation for the anti-tax-evasion campaign. In the past three years, the repayment of evaded taxes from the cost of royalties for licensing and price transfers of multinational companies has added up to 48 million RMB.
7) Enhancing Enforcement Level through Research on Valuation Theory
(1) The Shanghai Customs plays an active role in theoretical construction of the system of Customs’ long-term function of tax-collection. The research work has been carried out under two topics of “The Construction of a New Framework of Valuation Laws and Regulations in the new situation ” and “Enhancing the Customs Valuation Capacities through Improving Social Ethics”
(2) A set of course books is being compiled. Borrowing from the experiences from developed countries, the experts on valuation are working on an encyclopaedia, which would be a collection of all the successful cases of valuation management in China and the advanced concepts and theories from other countries. The books are expected to be valuable references for on-site valuation.
(3) Undertake the research work of revising “Methods of Dutiable Price valuation”. Having borrowed the advanced valuation experience from other countries, the Shanghai customs have achieved considerable progress in valuating used equipment.
(4) Undertake the research work initiated by the General Administration of Price Transfer of Multinational Companies. Amendments are being made to the legal provisions in the draft on the basis of international experience and domestic practice.
(5) The representatives from the Shanghai Customs put forward on the WTO Valuation Council meeting our suggestions on the development of valuation competence and the construction of valuation database.
(6) The Shanghai Customs provided 20 training sessions on customs valuation, international trade and case studies, apart form the publication of Customs Valuation, An Introduction to the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation and 100 FAQs about Customs Valuation, which have played a positive role in cultivating talents specialized in customs valuation.
8) Enhancing the Transparency of Customs Valuation to Foster a Favourable Law-Enforcement Environment
Transparency of customs operation and protection of importers’ rights are important parts of the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation. To bring its customs valuation in line with international practice and enhance importers’ knowledge of valuation rules, the Shanghai Customs took the following measures to drive importers to make true and accurate declarations.
(1) Relevant laws, administrative rules, regulations and procedures concerning customs valuation are publicized on the Internet. Tips for Customs Valuation and consultation on customs valuation are also available on the Internet.
(2) Strengthened training among enterprises on valuation, by adding customs valuation course and lectures into the qualification training programs for professional customs brokers, and offering lectures to import and export companies with the aim of raising the consciousness and willingness to follow laws when declaring to the customs.
(3) Carrying out the system of “Valuation Notification” to inform importers of the reason for turning down the declared transaction price, the basis of customs valuation and administrative or judicial remedies importers might seek for.
V Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
The Article 51 of the WTO Agreement demands the member countries should crack down counterfeit trademarks and piracy and might strike down on other infringements. It also gets tough with import infringements. Before its accession into the WTO, China has begun its efforts on the protection of the intellectual property rights of the imports and exports. Since the release of the Regulation of the Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in 1995, the customs has widened its protection scopes in importation and exportation, covering trademark rights, copyrights, rights related to copyright and logo rights of Olympic, etc. Therefore, China’s protection of intellectual property rights definitely surpasses the demand and requirements of the WTO and the TRIPs, in term of protection processes and categories.
After China’s accession, the Shanghai Customs has taken various measures to strengthen its protection of intellectual property rights.
1. Increasing synergy for the IPRs protection through cooperation with related authorities
(1) Strengthening contacts and communications with local governments. The Shanghai Customs, as a member of the Municipal IPRs conference, has actively participated in special surveys and the drafting of such regulatory documents as the Municipal’s Strategies for IPRs after China’s Accession into the WTO, the Municipal Management of the IPRs in the International Trade and the Municipal Strategy Compendium of IPRs.
(2) Strengthening cooperation with related administrations and judicial authorities. The Shanghai Customs and the Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce signed the Cooperation Memorandum of Trademarks Protection to achieve unified and concerted legal enforcement framework.
Box 11.3
After China’s accession into the WTO, the Shanghai Customs on the premise of high clearance efficiency carried out active performances on customs protection of intellectual property rights.
The Shanghai Customs dealt with 29 infringing cases with an involved volume of more than RMB 5.73 million in 2001, 138 cases and more than RMB 19.42 million in 2002, 212case and more than RMB 19.49 in 2003, and 202 cases and more than 18million up to now in 2004. The statistics from the The Customs General Administration of the PRC show that the quantities of the infringing cases dealt with by the Shanghai Customs rank the first among all customs nationwide.
(3) Strengthening cooperation with industrial associations and social entities of IPRs.
In the past years, the Shanghai Customs made great efforts to establish efficient channels of frequent contacts and communications with the Quality Brand Protection Committee of the National Foreign Investors Association, the Shanghai Association of Foreign Economic and Trade Enterprises and the Municipal Trademark Association. It also established a “communicating and feeding-back” mechanism with related associations and enterprises from home and abroad to set up a IPRs protection platform, through which to have heated discussions and researches on the issue of customs protection of IPRs and to actually safeguard the lawful rights and benefits of interested parties.
2. Enhancing the publicization of IPR protection to the outside world
Since China’s accession into the WTO, the Shanghai Customs has intensified its efforts to publicize customs protection of IPRs through all kinds of media to enhance the enterprises’ awareness of protecting IPRs. As a result, more and more enterprises from home and abroad plunged into the IPRs protection campaign. The latest results of the IPRs protection and the cases cracked might be reported by newspapers, such as the People’s daily overseas edition, the Economic Daily, the legal daily, the International Financial Daily, the Shanghai Economic Daily, and so on and broadcasted by CNR or Shanghai Radio. Alongside with the construction of external network of the model customs declaration points, the Shanghai customs established an IPRs information center on the external network, from which the public can enquire about the basic procedures and requirements for the protection of customs IPR and browse the corresponding rules and regulations and the information about the enforcement. They can also find from the website the instructions on how to download and fill out the application forms to be filed. The whole project is so significant that it once aroused the concern of Wu Yi, Vice Premier of the State Council.
In addition, the Shanghai Customs has been visited by delegations of expert on IPRs from the WIPRO, the EC, the United States and Japan, who brought the advanced experience and the latest development of IPR in the developed countries. It demonstrates the remarkable work the Shanghai customs has been doing for IPRs protection and the new images of the government in fulfilling its obligations as a WT O member and of the customs in safeguarding good trade order.
In November 22-23, 2004, the Global Congress/WCO Regional Forum on Protection of Intellectual Property Rights organized by the Shanghai Customs was held in Shanghai. The Forum was supported by the World Customs Organization, Interpol, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Customs from other countries, Global Business Leaders Alliance Against Counterfeiting (GBLAAC) , The State task group office of protection of IPR, the General Administration of Customs, ,State Legal office, State administration of Industry and Commerce , National Copyright Administration and so on. In the forum, all delegates agreed to pass through the Shanghai Initiatives, a document that appeals the Customs Administrations of the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen their IPR enforcement.