The WCO in the 21st Century

Inventing Our Future
WCO, Brussels, 27–28 March 2008

Day 1

Draft programme (14/03/2008)

Thursday 27 March 2008 - Morning

09:30 - 11:00 Opening Remarks	Michel Danet (WCO Secretary General) Vincent Van Quickenborne (Minister for Enterprise and Simplification, Belgium) Tapani Erling (Chairperson, WCO Council) Valentine Rugwabiza (Deputy Director General, WTO) Brian Minihane (Director of Operational Police Support, Interpol) Ambassador Peter Burian (Slovak Republic) Forum Moderator: Christopher Gillis (Journalist - American Shipper)
11:00 - 11:30	Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00 THEME I : Decision-Making Processes in the WCO: I. Are we up-to-date ? II. Binding v. voluntary III. Conventions v. Frameworks	Invited Speakers / Organizations : E. Dayan (DG), Universal Postal Union J.P.Simpson (DG), Global Express Association H. Northcott (President & CEO), Association of American Exporters and Importers World Health Organization Summary and Elaboration : A. Pellet, Professor of International Law, on Legal Aspects of WCO Decision-Making
13:00 - 14:30	Lunch

Thursday 27 March 2008 - Afternoon

14:30 - 16:00

THEME II : 21st Century Customs - Continuing WCO Relevance :

I. Establishing the nexus for Members between control and facilitation

II. Will the traditional roles for Customs change ?

III. Is the WCO failing to plan for something ?

Invited Speakers / Organizations :

Summary and Elaboration :

16:00 - 16:30

Coffee break

16:30 - 18:00

THEME III : Security : A challenge for the WCO :

I. What next for the WCO?

II. Should the WCO become “operational” (i.e., engage in timely information exchange)?

III. Means to remain current with emerging technologies

IV. Border management – A new role for Customs

Invited Speakers / Organizations :

H. Baage (Senior Legal Officer), United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee
B. Snoy (Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities), Organization for Security and Co-operation In Europe
Judge Robert Bonner (Former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Summary and Elaboration :

The WCO documents require Acrobat Reader 8.0 and above to be viewed.

Not to be missed!