Revised Kyoto Convention receives a boost

26 June 2009

Brussels, 26 June 2009

Revised Kyoto Convention receives a boost

Cuba, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka today deposited their instruments of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (revised Kyoto Convention) with the World Customs Organization in the presence of the Secretary General on the occasion of the Annual Sessions of the WCO Council.

The three countries were respectively represented by H.E Mr. Elio Rodriguez Perdomeo (Ambassador of Cuba to Belgium), Mr. K. –K. Karbuzov (Chairman of the Customs Control Committee, Kazakhstan), and Mr. S.A.C.S.W. Jayatilake (Director General of Customs, Sri Lanka).

WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, said, I am encouraged by this momentous event and I urge more WCO Members to accede to the Revised Kyoto Convention as soon as possible given its critical importance to Customs modernization and trade facilitation”.

Recognized as a blueprint for effective and modern Customs procedures in the 21st Century, the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) entered into force on 3 February 2006 and now has 62 Contracting Parties.