Friday, October 8, 2010

Meeting to Discuss Harmonizing Trade Compliance Best Practices, Standards, Benchmarking and Related Education & Training…

On Wednesday, October 27th, seasoned trade compliance professionals are getting together in Washington DC for an “Exploratory Discussion on Trade Compliance Standards.” The session is hosted by the law firm of Baker & McKenzie LLP in cooperation with The Export Practitioner, University of Georgia and National Foreign Trade Council, Inc.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss consistency and harmonization of best practices, benchmarking and trade compliance standards including related education, training and certification issues. Initial focus is on exports, but international trade is the overarching subject.

The August article in The Export Practitioner “Certificate vs. Certification: Buyer Beware!” energized and educated the constituency, generated a great deal of lively as well as informative discussion and received significant attention from a wide-range of practitioners and vendors alike. That and ongoing inconsistencies in best practices and a lack of consistent standards prompted this meeting.

Already invited representatives from industry, academia, the research & development community, consulting and law firms along with ICPA and District Export Council members and others from the public and private sectors will consider past history, present concerns, address specific actions and the way ahead.

Participants see this as a timely and unique opportunity to make a significant difference and move trade compliance best practices, harmonization, benchmarking and universal standards forward with greater clarity, depth and fidelity than ever before. Hopefully, fundamental export control reform will be a catalyst for significant progress in this arena. Unfortunately much of what needs to be done is long overdue.

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