45th CIAT General Assembly
Quito, 7 April 2011
Report
At the invitation of the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations (CIAT), Márcio Verdi, the Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, attended the 45th CIAT General Assembly held in Quito, Ecuador from 4-7 April 2011 to strengthen cooperation between Customs and tax administrations.
Heads of tax administrations from fifty countries and numerous international organizations held discussions under the theme: “Tax morale as a determining factor in improving the effectiveness ofthe tax administration”.
Secretary General Mikuriya participated on 7 April and made a keynote speech on Customs’ experience in the tax morality area.
He explained Customs-business partnerships, underlining that the AEO programme enhances compliance by traders as it provides clear benefits. He also detailed the principles contained in the WCO revised Arusha Declaration to improve the integrity of Customs officers and called on tax administrations to join efforts for good governance.
Another prerequisite for fair and efficient revenue collection, incorporated in the WCO Revenue Package, is appropriate enforcement against commercial fraud where Secretary General Mikuriya stressed the importance of exchange of information between Customs and tax administrations.
The audience appreciated that while Customs and internal tax have different cultures, commonality and scope for enhanced cooperation exists.