INF/TE/IDP/RD/20* 
23 March 2022  
(22-2475) Page: 1/6 
 Original: English/anglais/inglés  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
STATEMENT  BY THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION (WCO)  
The role of the World Customs Organization in enabling the better identification of 
plastics in the Harmonized System and in supporting the implementation of 
environmental policies by Customs Administrations  
IDP Workstream s Meeting – 18 March 2022  
 
 
DOCUMENT DE S ÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
STATEMENT BY THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION (WCO)  
The role of the World Customs Organization in enabling the better identification of 
plastics in the Harmonized System and in supporting the implementation of 
environmental policies by Customs Administrations  
IDP Workstream s Meeting – 18 March 2022  
 
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
STATEMENT BY THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION (WCO)  
The role of the World Customs Organization in enabling the better identification of 
plastics in the Harmonized System and in supporting the implementation of 
environmental policies by Customs Administrations  
IDP Workstream s Meeti ng – 18 March 2022  
 
_______________  
  
 
* In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente.  
1 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in their 
language of submission and will not be translated systematically into the working languages of the WTO. They 
are intended for use in WTO meeting rooms and are a ttributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
Les documents de la série RD ne sont pas des documents officiels de l 'OMC. Ils ne paraissent 
généralement que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne seront pas systématiquemen t 
traduits dans les langues de travail de l'OMC. Ils sont destinés aux salles de réunion de l'OMC et une cote non 
officielle leur est attribuée à des fins d'archivage.  
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OMC. Por lo general se d istribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traduce n sistemáticamente a los idiomas de trabajo de la 
Organización. Se distribuyen para su uso en las salas de reunión de la OMC y se les asigna una signatura no 
oficial a efectos de archivo ún icamente.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/20  
 
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  PRESENTATION AT THE INFORMAL DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND 
ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE PLASTICS TRADE (IDP)  SESSION :  
"STARTING THE CONVERSATION – THE IDP IN 2022 " 
THE ROLE OF THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION IN ENABLING THE BETTER IDENTIFICATION 
OF PLASTICS IN THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM AND IN SUPPORTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES BY CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONS  
Gael Grooby, Deputy Director, Trade & Trade Affairs, World Customs Organisatio n 
_______________  
 
Thank you for the honour of address ing this distinguished group on such an important subject.  
 
Today I want to focus on providing some practical information to assist your deliberations, beginning 
with a short outline of why the World C ustoms Organisation, the WCO, has had such a focus on 
plastics and other environmental issues.   
 
The implementation of international trade policy almost invariably involves Customs administrations. 
As the administrations that cover the widest range of bor der related controls, Customs 
administrations have a wealth of knowledge and experience in what makes for robustly 
implementable measures. They also have extensive knowledge of the realities of cross -border trade 
and work with a wide range of measures cove ring trade, security, environment and other issues of 
national importance. So they are uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of sound 
policy across the range of issues affecting trade.     
 
As the international organisation representing  Customs administrations globally, the WCO, shares 
with its Members that focus on the realities of trade. The mission statement of the WCO is:  
 
The World Customs Organization develops international standards, fosters cooperation and builds 
capacity to facilita te legitimate trade, to secure a fair revenue collection and to protect society, 
providing leadership, guidance and support to Customs administrations . 
 
For those gathered here, it is self -evident that the protection of the biosphere in which we live is 
crucial to the protection of society.  That is why we are here.  And as governments look at their 
responsibility in this area, this also involves their various administrations and agencies, including 
Customs, and, by extension, the WCO.  
 
So, let us begin wi th the flagship instrument of the WCO, the Harmonized System: the HS.  
 
When you talk about identifying goods in trade internationally, creating an HS provision is one of 
the most powerful tools available.  
 
This is why we work with other international org anisations like the Montreal Protocol and the Basel, 
Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions , to bring goods subject to international controls into the HS, 
including our current work with the Basel Secretariat on bringing proposals for new hazardous plastic 
waste provisions to the table for HS inclusion.  
 
But of course it is not always simple to incorporate goods into the HS. So understanding how it is 
done, what are the considerations that will be taken into account and the timeframes for this helps 
to do so successfully.  
 
The Harmonized System is actually the Annex to the "International Convention on the Harmonized 
Commodity Description and Coding System ".  It is Article 3 of the Convention that allows countries 
to go beyond six digits in their Customs tarif fs or statistical nomenclatures, provided they preserve 
the HS as is to the six -digit level.   When goods are classified on the border of a country, they are 
classified under the nationally applicable nomenclature, so an "HS plus " system. This means that 
countries can already make changes domestically to enact policies.  
 
Of course, enacting changes at the HS level produces several major, and often crucial, advantages 
over relying on national changes, all because of one simple fact: the HS provisions apply unchanged 
globally. This leads to HS provisions being able to:  INF/TE/IDP/RD/20  
 
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  • act as a basis for agreed definitions of goods of interest;  
• produce internationally comparable statistics to inform policy and monitoring;  
• increase transparency o f global trade in goods with a high level of HS granularity; and  
• to achieve higher levels of international and national consistency in the treatment of 
particular products.  
Given all of this and given the interest so many of our Members have in the area o f plastics, you 
may wonder why we haven't already more heavily expanded on the provisions for plastics.  We have 
made provisions for e -wastes, for gasses with high -global warming potential, for solar products, for 
various goods made of environmentally pref erable materials, even for individual products like 
catalytic convertors and many other environmentally motivated changes. So it would seem like an 
obvious thing to have made many more new provisions relating to plastics in the last edition of the 
HS.  
 
To understand why this has not been so easily achieved, and to look at what is need to achieve such 
provisions, we need to look at:  
 
• what makes an implementable HS provision; and  
• the process of achieving a new provision  
Starting with the basics: what is re quired for an HS proposal to be achievable?  
 
A clear rationale – the why  
 
Why is this a good use of an HS code?  There are millions of products, but limited capacity in a 
usable Customs nomenclature with a six digit limit. So goods are not added lightly.2 So the 
Harmonized System Committee, looks closely at the reasoning behind any proposal.  
 
The HSC looks at trade value and global relevance, but also whether the goods have a high priority 
for reasons of "global good ", for example because they are globall y regulated or have a high impact 
internationally on such things as security, health, or the environment.  
 
For the type of goods this group is looking at, this is the easiest part of the equation. But "easiest " 
does not always mean simple.  
 
Let's look at  an example. There has been interest in creating provisions for biodegradable plastic 
bags. But even this apparently simple aim raises questions about the rationale. If the reason is to 
substantially reduce plastic pollution from plastic bags, is this an e ffective way to do it that will gain 
the support of sufficient Members?  
 
Apart from questions around whether it would be preferable to highlight plastic alternatives instead, 
many of the questions also cross -over into the second requirement of a good proposal.  
 
A robust definition  – the what  
 
This is perhaps the most important  aspect of a proposal. Can the goods be defined clearly? Can the 
definition be protected against legal challenges?  
 
Staying with biodegradable plastic bags, the absence of any globally accepted international 
standards defining the term "biodegradable plas tics" meant the scope was unclear.  There were 
many questions as to both intent and definition.  
 
What does biodegradable plastic actually mean? What about plastics that only partially biodegrade 
and form micro -plastics, are they covered? If a plastic can biodegrade but contains toxic additives, 
is it covered? If a plastic will biodegrade under industr ial composting conditions but survives for 
years under most normal environmental conditions or in home composting, is it included?  
 
 
2 We currently have only 5,612  six-digit subheadings, and only a proportion of these specify goods 
narrowly.    INF/TE/IDP/RD/20  
 
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  As the HS is a global instrument and is intended to be applied without  any change of scope in all 
contracting parties, the answers to what was meant by biodegradable plastics had to be agreed by 
all.  
 
So, in the absence of an existing agreed global definition, any such provision would probably need 
to include a legally binding Note to define what was meant by biodegradable pl astics agreeable to 
Contracting Parties.  
 
But this leads us into the third requirement of a good proposal.  
 
Use of verifiable provisions – the how  
 
The ability to verify whether goods claiming a classification actually comply is essential for an HS 
provision. The HS forms part of Customs law in Contracting Party states, as well as many non -
contracting states, by its incorporation into their tariff legislation. To be part of law, it needs to be 
enforceable. If there is a suspicion that the claim is factual ly false, then it needs to be possible in a 
practical sense, for the claim to be verified. By a practical sense, the level of difficulty or the level 
of expense, time or resources required, should be reasonably possible within the capacity of Customs 
in bo th developed and developing countries. If not, then the proposal is not suitable as a legal 
instrument.  
 
The available tests for biodegradability of plastics involve exposing samples to controlled conditions 
and generally last between 28 days to six months . The practical difficulties of this at the border are 
clear. Given the variety of plastic materials and the variety of additives to plastic that can impact 
biodegradability, no reliable alternative testing methods were found.  
 
Any new proposal in the fut ure that centres on biodegradability or c ompostability  would need to be 
examined again for such issues .  
 
In addition to the above, we need to look at issues of where, who and when.  
 
An indication of where the goods are currently classified – the where  
 
When goods move to a new provision, then their duty rates are expected to move with them. In 
addition, the statisticians will want to be able to make the adjustments to be able to preserve time 
series information. So it is important to be able to identify where the goods are currently classified. 
It is exceptionally rare that goods from an undefined range of positions, for example common parts 
classified with their parent articles, are moved to a new heading and it does not make those 
responsible for duty r ates or statistics very happy with the HS when it does happen.  
 
In the area of plastic articles or plastic packaging, this is a real problem.  
 
Plastic packaging is one of the largest areas of hidden plastic in the HS. It permeates throughout 
the HS, with everything from live trees to works of art shipped in plastic packaging that is not 
separately classified.  
 
But it is also a problem with plastic articles. Take for example a hypothetical proposal for separately 
classifying articles made of high -shedding polyester fleece fabrics  into their own provision. This 
would involve goods moving not only from many headings in the textile and garment chapters, but 
also the movement of fleece covered goods from a range of headings for other goods such as toys, 
bedding  and soft -furnishings. Even Chapter 42, which covers leather, saddlery, suitcases and so on, 
would be affected as it covers such things like dog coats.  
 
The alternative would be to put in additional "made of " provision in every heading possibly affected, 
an approach which would affect both the future expansion and the usability of the HS.  
 
Finally we turn to –  
 
Who and When  
 
To create provisions requires proposals. These should normally come from either a Con tracting Party 
or an Intergovernmental Organisation.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/20  
 
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As to the when, in terms of the HS review cycle it is always later than you think.   
 
Proposals normally progress through the Review Sub -Committee (RSC), a consensus body that 
works on drafting and mee ts twice a year, then passes to the Harmonized System Committee (HSC), 
a voting body, that can choose to further refine the wording, and, when ready, needs a majority of 
two-thirds to provisionally adopt a proposal.  So if a proposal goes through say three  sessions of the 
RSC for drafting and then takes two sessions of the HSC, then it will take two years to be provisionally 
adopted from its first presentation at the RSC.  It can be shorter or it can be a longer period, but it 
not unusual for a complicated proposal to take multiple years.  
 
At the end of the negotiation cycle, the provisionally adopted provisions are sent to the WCO Council 
for approval as a Recommendation to Members, which much be unanimous, followed by six months 
for objections. Then there  is two years for the preparation by Members for entering into force.  
 
So, how long is left before negotiations are over on HS 2027? The last HSC session for this will be 
March 2024. After this month, there are only four RSC sessions and four HSC sessions  left. 
 
What does this mean for plastics in the HS?  
 
You may be wondering if it is even possible with all of this to achieve better identification of plastics 
in the HS – yes, of course it is possible!  
 
The Harmonized System has included new provision to separately specify many products that pose 
high levels of difficulty over its lifetime and it is achievable to bring better plastics identification into 
the HS.  
 
What this does mean is that how it could be integrated into the HS should not be an after -thought. 
For success of measures at the border, including the creation of HS provisions, the requirements for 
implementation need to be built into the negotiations fr om the start. Working with HS experts and 
your Customs administrations, as early as possible in the process greatly expands the likelihood of 
moving from ideas to reality at the border.  
 
But the WCO is not just the HS. The other area I would like to talk about is the wider work of the 
WCO in relation to plastics. However, the WCO has an extensive programme around environmental 
issues, and it would take the day to really do the work of my colleagues' justice.  
 
Therefore, I will focus on just one programme,  the Asia Pacific Plastic Waste Project  (APPW) , funded 
by Japan and conducted by the WCO,  and some of its outcomes.  
 
This project aimed at  strengthening the capacity of  selected  Customs administrations to mitigate 
and appropriately respond to environmenta l threats in the Asia -Pacific region , with a focus on the 
implementation of the Basel Convention, and specifically on matters related to plastic waste and the 
illegal shipment thereof . It had very practical aims and these were reflected by effective outcomes.  
This original project culminated in the WCO Asia Pacific Plastic Waste Conference in February 2022 
and the resulting APPW Statement adopted by the Conference, which I will share w ith this forum.  
 
The success of this project has resulted in an extension phase of the APPW Project commencing 
1 April 2022, again funded by the Government of Japan.  
 
It would be useful to outline four of the key outcomes of the original phase to show the  nature of 
this programme.  
 
• A self -assessment tool for Customs administrations on their capacity to deal with plastic 
wastes and wastes in general, which could be used for self -assessment and as part of WCO 
diagnostic missions.  
This covered their institut ional framework and strategy, legislation, facilitation and 
procedures, risk management of illegal trafficking, cooperation at the national and 
international levels, and skills and capacity training. It was designed to help Customs 
administrations collect information and identify priority areas for attention, offered 
information on potential solutions and improvement options and gave summaries of possible INF/TE/IDP/RD/20  
 
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  challenges or weaknesses that may be faced when implementing and enforcing waste and 
plastic waste poli cies.  
 
• A WCO Members -only guide, the "Frontline Customs Officers' Guide to Key Multilateral 
Environmental Agreements – BASEL CONVENTION " was developed.  
 
• The Training Framework on Plastic Waste Control and Facilitation was developed, covering 
both entry -level and advanced training for officers of Customs, Environmental authorities 
and other cross -border agencies, as well as Customs trainers.  
 
• An updated Coordinated Border Management (CBM) Compendium was produced.  
This included an updated chapter on the Bas el Convention and a specific Annex on CBM in 
the context of plastic wastes to illustrate how the CBM approach has been put into practice 
for effective control and facilitation of plastic waste trade.  
 
This Programme is a good illustration of the practical work that the WCO has and is undertaking to 
ensure that it supports Customs in both existing and forthcoming policies on plastics and other 
environmental policies.  
 
Looking forward at the WCO , we are also contributing a Customs perspective into discussions on 
policy development being held by a range of organisations.  In June, the WCO will host a conference 
focused on Customs and environmentally sustainable trade. This will be followed later i n the year 
with a series of symposia looking more specifically at greening the HS.  
 
By combining practical tools and forward thinking, the WCO is working to ensure that it and its 
Members can play their role in response to the global challenges we face.  
 
__________