Rizwan Mahmood
Rizwan Mahmood has more than 19 years of work experience in customs administration at operational and senior levels. He holds three master’s degrees. Master of Customs Administration with Distinction from Charles Sturt University, Australia, MSc Public Policy and Administration from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom, and Master of Business Administration from University of the Punjab, Pakistan. His major areas of expertise are related to customs classification, valuation, concessionary regimes, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), compliance management, risk profiling and risk management, import and export prohibitions, rules of origin, transit trade, TIR, eTIR, and gender equality. He has worked with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for establishing the eTIR procedure in Pakistan. Rizwan is also a visiting faculty member of the Pakistan Customs Academy for the training of probationary Assistant Collectors of Customs.
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Content by Rizwan Mahmood
How to build relationship with a customs broker: Step-by-step instructions from a customs official
Finding the right customs broker can be a huge problem for traders. One may seem to be "your" person, but they may misunderstand you or not listen to you. Another may not have the proper level of knowledge and so on. This article is designed to help you with this...
Customs valuation and transfer pricing - understanding similarities and differences (II)
Editors’ note: In this second part of the article, the author highlights the similarities and differences between customs valuation and transfer pricing and emphasises that the requirements may differ for the same goods. He also outlines the solutions used by customs in different countries. For example, the Canada Border Services...
Customs valuation and transfer pricing - understanding similarities and differences (I)
Editors' note: In November, the European Commission published the news 'New transfer pricing rules to make life easier for businesses in the EU'. The new rules are necessary to address several challenges, including the competing objectives of customs and tax authorities, which lead to double compliance requirements. The problem is...
Non-tariff measures: their purpose and effect on trade
According to UNCTAD, 90 % of global trade is subject to non-tariff measures (NTMs). NTMs can increase trade costs three times as much as tariffs. NTMs often lack transparency. This increases uncertainty and unpredictability in global trade. At the same time, NTMs can be beneficial for international trade, as they...
Tariff classification toolkit
The areas requiring customs compliance are of a very technical nature. To get it right, a systematic approach is required. In this article, we present the ‘Tariff classification toolkit’, developed by the author. This is a generic version of a toolkit. It can be tailored to the requirements of any...
Learning the lingua franca of international trade
What is the language of international trade? Who should learn it? Why it is important to learn? How to use this language for international trade? What are the international themes in the development and application of this language? What are its advantages and disadvantages? How to develop the skill of...
Customs broker’s profession: to be or not to be licensed?
This is the third article in our study of customs broker activity in different countries. The first one concerned the peculiarities of the customs broker profession in different EU countries. The second one contained insights and news not only from the EU, but also from the UK and Canada. We...
Resolving trade disputes beyond borders: the role of the WTO
In international trade, the policies of the government of the trading partner such as the country of destination for exports may affect the business of a company. If a company conducting international trade believes that another member country of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is not complying with its obligations...
Mission possible: how the WTO Valuation Agreement strikes a balance between trade facilitation and customs regulation
Customs valuation is one of the largest challenges in international trade. That is why the rules of customs valuation are set out in an international treaty. On the one hand, this is aimed at harmonizing the valuation rules, while on the other hand, it is aimed at protecting economic operators...
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How to build relationship with a customs broker: Step-by-step instructions from a customs official
Finding the right customs broker can be a huge problem for traders. One may seem to be "your" person, but they may misunderstand you or not listen to you. Another may not have the proper level of knowledge and so on. This article is designed to help you with this...
Customs valuation and transfer pricing - understanding similarities and differences (II)
Editors’ note: In this second part of the article, the author highlights the similarities and differences between customs valuation and transfer pricing and emphasises that the requirements may differ for the same goods. He also outlines the solutions used by customs in different countries. For example, the Canada Border Services...
Customs valuation and transfer pricing - understanding similarities and differences (I)
Editors' note: In November, the European Commission published the news 'New transfer pricing rules to make life easier for businesses in the EU'. The new rules are necessary to address several challenges, including the competing objectives of customs and tax authorities, which lead to double compliance requirements. The problem is...