APEC economies on Sunday pledged to crack down on rampant corruption among customs officers costing them billions of dollars a year.
The 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said at a meeting in Brunei that they would also expand the use of "paperless trading," for example through e-commerce, to combat graft and cut costs.
"Senior customs officials from the Asia-Pacific region plan to develop collective actions by the end of next year to address the threat of corrupt practices in their customs administrations," a statement said.
The APEC customs committee said its drive "to ensure the integrity of officers would coincide with a further broadening of regional customs cooperation with the inclusion this year of paperless trading as a new initiative."
"The threat of corrupt practices arising from lack of transparency and complex procedures means that the integrity of customs officers is becoming increasingly important."
APEC reaffirmed its goal announced two years ago of achieving paperless trading wherever possible by 2005 for developed members, and by 2010 for developing ones, "or as soon as possible thereafter."
Global trade churns out an estimated nine billion paper documents every year at a cost of about 35 billion dollars, according to the United Nations, roughly twice the total revenues of the world shipping industry.
China alone loses 3.5 billion dollars every year through unpaid customs duties, according to the communist authorities, who have handed out dozens of death sentences in high-profile smuggling cases -- BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP)
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