Hello from Australia.
To our colleagues, distinguished guests, presenters, trade and customs partners,
academics and members of the public who have come together to be part
of the Green Trade Innovation and Incentives Forum here in Virginia.
My name is Kimberly Stamatis and I am the Assistant Secretary
for the Customs and Trade Policy Branch in the Australian Border Force.
I'd like to thank the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Agency for inviting me to speak to you today
about our views and thoughts around great trade and growing customs
and what actions we are taking as Australia's Customs Service to progress
efforts to making Green Customs our way of working.
It is a great honor to be invited to present to you today
and I'm sad that I could not be with you there in person.
Australia is a nation blessed with breathtaking landscapes
and rich biodiversity and is renowned for its unique ecosystems.
From the majestic Great Barrier Reef to the vast expanses of the outback,
these natural wonders are not only a source of pride for us,
but also serve as a constant reminder
of our responsibility to protect and nurture our environment.
We recognize the significance of sustainable practices
and environmental stewardship, and together we are working towards
preserving its natural heritage and fostering a greener future.
So what is grain customs?
This phrase is now being used everyday to describe a range of activities
that Customs administrations around the world are doing in the name
of protecting our environment.
We are in luck, though, as the World Customs Organization
has developed a definition in their grain customs action plan
that is grain.
Customs refers to the measures that Customs administrations can take
or develop to reduce their own environmental footprint,
to protect the environment and facilitate grain trade,
and to test transformative ideas towards sustainability excellence.
And by doing so, drive progress on the related United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
I think having this definition helps to guide our customs
work and efforts in the environmental space.
I would like to share with you what we have done as an agency,
as well as what we already do as part of broader Australian government efforts.
I will talk about what our priorities are for a greener customs
and the importance of innovation and incentives
to make significant and lasting changes in the way that we work.
In June last year, the World Customs Organization hosted
the inaugural Green Customs Global Conference, which generated
discussions around the need for Customs administrations to take a strong
and proactive approach in tackling the challenges of climate change
and what actions can be taken to contribute to environmental objectives.
At the same conference, the US CBP announced and launched
the Green Trade Strategy, which will you will no doubt hear more about today
attending the conference and hearing about the U.S.
grain trade strategy was partly the impetus
for the Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram APM,
to actively lean in and engage on this topic
and further take a leading role with our own industry stakeholders.
He tasked us with developing a strategy
and an approach to becoming a more greener customs.
And so the Australian Border Force Green Customs framework was developed
and endorsed in December of last year.
This was
something that hadn't been done before in the Australian Border Force
pulling together and assessing all the environmental factors
of our co work as well as our own working environment.
We chose to develop a framework as opposed to a strategy
as it provides a good foundation to explore both our current efforts
and future initiatives.
Our framework outlines existing green policies and practices
that are already in place and provides an avenue for new ideas to be explored
and new partnerships to be formed to make changes for the better, big and small.
The framework formalizes our commitment to environmental protection,
and it has already opened up
a number of opportunities where we can make some impact.
Admittedly, many of these things we are doing, we can't claim as our own.
The Australian Government has been mandating environment and energy standards
for many years now and these practices have become part of our everyday lives.
So we have needed to work deeper
and look deeper at what else we can be doing,
utilizing our strengths as the leading Australian border agency
and our links to industry groups and stakeholders who work in the supply chain
and his activities impact border operations.
Our framework divides our
green strategy and agenda and activities under four pillars of effort.
These are customs partnerships, environmental laws and agreements,
green trade practices and sustainable resources and practices.
And I will touch on each of these
with examples of what we are doing and what we want to do.
As I've already alluded to, some of our green activities are well-established.
This is notable under the pillar of sustainable resources and practices
such as energy efficiency in buildings, recycling at most locations,
operating hybrid cars and environmentally sound disposal of seized goods.
It is also evident under the pillar of environmental laws and agreements.
Part of our core business is implementing
and enforcing Australia's environmental laws at the border,
such as preventing trade and trafficking in hazardous substances.
Protect the wildlife and surveillance and detection of illegal
and unregulated fishing in Australia's protected marine zones.
However, there are still improvements being made in these areas.
The Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy and Environment
and Water is Australia's lead
policy and regulatory agency for all things environment,
and we have a very close working relationship with them,
particularly in border enforcement of Australia's environmental laws
and policies which they administer.
The World Customs Organization's position on green Customs is for the World
Customs Organization and Customs administrations to have more influence
in implementing international and national environmental policies at the border.
Past experiences have shown us that
there can be a disconnect when determining how international environment
conventions can be turned into laws and then enforced to be successful.
The process of operationalizing a convention involves working more closely
with environmental agencies where customs can help environmental bodies understand
the nature of how border operations, compliance and enforcement work.
We believe this partnership is crucial in ensuring
we achieve the best outcomes when it comes to protecting Australia's environment.
Working with
the World Customs Organization and our Customs partners on Green Customs
issues is another area we have been focusing a lot of our energy.
Australia is currently the World Customs Organization, Asia Pacific Vice Chair
and Australia recently hosted the 24th Asia-Pacific Regional Heads of Customs
Administration's conference, where Green Customs was discussed.
The World Customs Organization, with funding from the Government of Japan,
launched the Asia Pacific Plastic Waste Project in 2020,
recognizing the urgent need for collaborative action and enhanced
customs capabilities to prevent and reduce the illegal shipping of plastic waste.
The project aimed to strengthen capacity for eight beneficiary Customs
administrations being Thailand, the Philippines, Laos,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka
to take appropriate action against the environmental threat of illegal shipments
of plastic waste being exported by many first world countries.
Australia was invited to join as an observer member
and we were also invited to deliver a presentation at a project workshop
in Cambodia last year
on Australia's experience with waste, import export policies and laws
and dealing with problematic and illegal shipments of plastic waste.
At a meeting in Perth in May of this year, the project team presented
their final regional Action
Plan to the regional heads of Customs, where it was also endorsed.
The action plan provided a number of recommended actions
which will help the beneficiary countries deal with the issues of plastic waste
in their regions.
They included new legal frameworks and better information
sharing between countries.
Many other members in the Asia Pacific region have also expressed their interest
in this type of regional collaboration on how to deal with waste.
And there is an interest to continue other project work along these lines.
Australia, along with the other members in the Asia Pacific region,
share the sentiment that we look to the World Customs Organization
to continue to lead and progress.
The Green Customs Action Plan and other Green Customs activities
with a focus on more concrete actions that provide great opportunities
for member countries to be engaged in for greater outcomes.
Developing the Green Customs framework highlighted
areas for us where we felt we could be doing more.
This is most obvious in the area of industry and border supply chains.
Industry partnerships
are important and that's why forums such as this one are very valuable,
where we are able to share experiences and learn from each other.
Industry stakeholders are critical partners
with the Australian Border Force and our growing customs
framework is the tool we're using to initiate discussions with industry
and trade groups through a number of fora.
This collaboration will assist us to better understand what businesses
are already doing to reduce their carbon footprint and protect the environment.
And we know anecdotally that Australian businesses
are doing some great work in this area.
The question then becomes how can we help?
The Australian Border Force Commissioner is taking our Green customs
framework forward to industry in the next few months
to start the green trade discussion and to seek ideas.
Another
area of industry where we are seeking to make a difference is through
our authorized economic operator program, the Australian Trust to Trade Program.
Australian Border Force officers in the Australian Trusted Trader program
are exploring both from an operational and academic perspective,
the feasibility of their programs as a vehicle to incentivize green trade.
The activities will examine
the effectiveness of implementing an environmental assessment
process to an eye program to validate growing trade practices
and setting up a framework for delivering tangible benefits for trusted traders.
Some great work has already been done so far
and we hope to have some analysis and outcomes on this work later in the year.
Strengthening partnerships and collaborating with industry partners
to improve our environmental impact is our priority and area of focus.
We anticipate
we will have some great new initiatives to commence and we look forward to be able
to share these experiences with others soon, particularly
if our experience can help other customs agencies or trade groups to explore
and initiate similar activities.
Thank you all for taking the time to listen
and thanks again to the US Customs and Border Protection Agency
for hosting this forum
and inviting me to speak.
I look forward to hearing about the outcomes and great ideas generated from today.