Programmes

• The 1st phase, needs assessment, is a comprehensive diagnostic needs assessment of the current situation in the Customs administration.

• Uses the WCO’s Diagnostic Framework tool that has been acknowledged by organizations like the UN, OECD, the World Bank, IMF and others.

• The needs assessment diagnosis is carried out by two Capacity Building experts. During the diagnostic mission, the experts interview all concerned parties including the members of the trade community.

• The mission results in a diagnostic report including the current situation, gap analysis to full implementation and the suggested way forward through a number of recommendations. 

• The 2nd phase, Implementation, is support for action planning, donor matchmaking, planning of pilot activities and implementation.

• The 3rd phase, Monitoring, involves monitoring of progress. 

• The Capacity Building Directorate has developed a progress monitoring system that was presented to and endorsed by the WCO High-Level Strategic Group in Shanghai. Progress reporting will be made on three different levels, on a country level, on a regional level and from donors. 

• Now, what does this mean in terms of real actions and implementation? Well, let me give you some numbers to illustrate that. To date:

• 147 WCO Members have committed to the SAFE Framework of Standards (FoS) 

• 105 of them have requested Capacity Building from the WCO and will receive a diagnostic mission 

• 101 have either received a diagnostic or have a confirmed date for their diagnostic

• That leaves us with 42 countries that have not requested Capacity Building to implement the SAFE Framework of Standards

• The WCO appreciates the extensive support provided by donors in completing the 1^st Phase of the Columbus Programme.

To make this happen, we have developed a number of support programmes and activities and I will briefly mention some of these activities:

We have published the first issue of the WCO Capacity Building Trends and Patterns Report, which provides research and analysis of key findings and emerging issues identified during Columbus Programme missions.

We have organized 22 training workshops around the world to develop the pool of Capacity Building experts and diagnostic facilitators. Thus far the WCO has trained more than 300 people, mainly from Customs administrations, but also from the private sector and institutions. We now have more than 100 accredited Capacity Building experts in the pool and over 20 of them have been accredited as WCO team leaders. The expert pool now covers English, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

For Phase 2 of the Columbus Programme, 69 national missions and 14 regional missions have been completed. A Phase 2 Action Planning Facilitators Workshop has taken place.

We have completed 13 missions to liaise with donors and financial institutions and have recently organized, in co-operation with the South African Revenue Service an international donors conference, the Global Dialogue on Capacity Building donor conference in South Africa in April 2007. During the conference, the WCO brought together under one roof over 120 capacity building leaders from more than 100 organizations around the globe, including an impressive number of Customs Directors General. This is the first time such a conference had been arranged and the feedback from the participants from international institutions, development banks, development agencies, and donor institutions has been overwhelmingly positive. Follow-up meetings have already taken place based on the South Africa discussions. In addition, planning has already begun for a second Global Dialogue conference in 2008.

For more information, see the updated Columbus Programme brochure.

WCO Secretariat is fully committed to provide continuous support for the success of the Columbus Programme.

Lars Karlsson

Director