Yokohama, Japan, 5 November 2024 – The ASEAN Regional Workshop on Royalty Related Issues on Post Clearance Audit (PCA) with Japan Customs was conducted on 5 – 7 November 2024 in Yokohama, Japan with the support from the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).
The training would benefit Customs Administrations of all ASEAN Member States (AMS) in terms of increasing understanding of particular topics on PCA, such as royalties, licence fee, and transfer pricing from Customs perspectives. It would also contribute to raising the skills and knowledge of PCA administrators in examining the impact of tax evasion and illegal practices on Customs procedures.
The training was officiated by Mr. Taketsugu Shuichi, Director of Coordination Division of Yokohama Customs. He welcomed all the participants by highlighting that ASEAN Customs and Yokohama Customs have had strong cooperation and relationships for a long time, including more than 40 site visits, seminars, and workshops held for the last 10 years. He hoped this workshop would be fruitful and beneficial for both ASEAN Customs administrations and Japan Customs.
Mr. Mohammad Furiman Bin Hattar, the Chairperson of the Customs Enforcement and Compliance Working Group (CECWG) expressed his appreciation to Indonesia and the ASEAN Secretariat for working together towards preparing and implementing this workshop. Furthermore, he also expressed his sincere appreciation to JAIF for sponsoring this workshop, and Japan Customs for considering AMS’ requests for the technical assistance and for sharing their insights and best practices. He believed that this workshop would continue to strengthen compliance, transparency, and consistency among AMS. Closing his opening remarks, he encouraged everyone to engage actively, share their perspectives and best practices related to PCA, as well as take full advantage of this opportunity to learn from one another.
Mr. Cuong Ba Tran, the Assistant Director of the Trade Facilitation Division of the ASEAN Secretariat, delivered a Keynote Speech underscoring the importance of this PCA workshop in enhancing ASEAN’s collective capacity to combat illicit trade and safeguard regional economies. Moreover, he also underlined that the nature of international trade, particularly transactions involving royalties, license fees, and transfer pricing, presents unique challenges for customs authorities. Post-Clearance Audit (PCA), as a powerful tool, would enable all Customs Administrations to scrutinise these transactions, identify anomalies, and deter fraudulent practices. With this workshop, the participants are expected to gain necessary knowledge and capabilities in advanced analytics and data mining techniques for auditing, risk assessment frameworks in allocating resources, and international practices through information sharing, joint investigations, as well as coordinated actions amongst the AMS.