DHL Express is expanding its workforce by 40% at its Asia Pacific Export Compliance Center (APECC) in Malaysia by the end of the year to ensure compliance of shipments to international standards.

In a statement, DHL which moves over 480 million shipments a year globally, has strict measures in place to ensure shipments through its network comply with legal and regulatory frameworks in line with United Nations, European, the U.S., global and local regulations on sanctions or denied parties.

“We continue to invest in the APECC because it plays a pivotal role in ensuring that good corporate governance and stringent compliance to export regulations are fully integrated into our daily business and operations,” said Ken Lee, CEO of DHL Express Asia Pacific.

“More than a million shipments pass through our global network daily. To remain the provider-of-choice, it’s critically important that we stay on top of regulatory changes across the 40 markets in the region so that we deliver the best service to our customers,” he added.

Situated in Kuala Lumpur, the APECC was established in 2015 to ensure shipments through the network are compliant with evolving international shipping regulations — including understanding current rules and new sanctions from both origin and destination of the shipment and helping customers understand the import and export process.

Increased e-commerce cited

“Shipping across borders is a complex process involving regulations and requirements that are applied by different countries and agencies. This is made more complex where some countries have laws that apply extra-territorially,” said Raymond Yee, vice president of Customs and Regulatory Affairs, DHL Express Asia Pacific.

Overseeing the thousands of outbound shipments from the Asia Pacific, the APECC is tasked to ensure non-compliant shipments are not missed.

With the surge in shipment volumes driven in part by the growth of e-commerce, the Center leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) by comparing recent data and transactions of previous shipments and alerting employees when there are anomalies.

The Asia Pacific Export Compliance Center is one of DHL's three centers globally, with one located in Europe and another in Central America.