1. 1 Economic Forum Astana, May, 21, 2015 Forum Partnership : Customs and Business French Customs experience

2. 2 Program of partnership to improve companies competitiveness 120,000 exporters in France Customs participate in the national support and incentive policies to international trade. Increase companies competitiveness Inform companies on available instruments, tools and trade facilitation reforms for : - simple, - secure, - faster, - less expensive clearance.

3. 3 A customized support for companies Large companies : A national unit dedicated to the 100 bigger exporters (40 % of clearance) Small and Medium Enterprises : - A regional network - 40 expertise centers - A central team for methodology definition, targets, performance and team training.

4. 4 The Customs Business Forum Customs business Forum : designed to encourage partnership and dialogue between French customs and private sector. 32 permanent members : - business federation (general and sectorial) - customs representatives - customs lawyers - leading exporters and importers Regular consultation : - A plenary session meets once a year under the Chairman ship of the French Head of Customs. - Working groups meet all along the year on specific topics.

5. 5 Results 12,000 SME have benefited from a personal coaching by customs services since 2009 (2,000 per year) High increase of utilisation of procedure, instruments and tools to improve clearance Better satisfaction from the private sector (annual survey)

6. 6 Procedures Evolution

7. 7 Positive points - Proximity - Free service - Expertise - Availability

8. 8 Difficulties and challenges ● Avoid a too technical speech with companies ● Challenging quality control and return for the companies ● Reglementation is similar for large Companies and SME. Complexity has to be adapted. ● Customs are mainly considered as a repressive administration. We must reassure the companies and build confidence.

9. 9 Next steps Increase the number of agents dedicated to advice companies Increase efficiency of the program through new technologies (on line services) and measure results Companies : be very close to understand their needs and difficulties for better answer Professionals of international business : improve training on Customs (e-training, MOOC ?) Business associations : ongoing regular consultation Foreign Administrations : cooperation to facilitate the entry of goods in the country of importation

10. 10 Thank you ! ● Thank you to the WCO for the collective work on the « Customs Business Partnership Guidance » ● Thank you to the Astana Forum : « Partnership : Customs and Business »