The WCO conducts a diagnostic mission to Chad
23 January – 2 February 2011
At the request of the Chad Customs Administration, the WCO conducted a diagnostic mission, financed by the Eurodouane Customs Co-operation Fund and the Netherlands, to N’djaména (Chad) from 23 January to 2 February 2011. It was led by three experts, Mr. Richard Delattre (France), Mr. Bernard Zbinden (WCO Secretariat) and Mr. Koffi Frédéric Koffi (WCO Technical Attaché to the Regional Office for Capacity Building for West and Central Africa (ROCB WCA).
The mission began with a meeting with Mr. Oumar Abdramane Hassane, Chad’s Director General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (DGDDI), and with WCO presentations focusing on the Columbus Programme and the regionalization initiative. The discussions not only reinforced the concept of capacity building in the minds of one and all, but also provided an opportunity to set objectives for the diagnostic mission, those being the production of a report describing the current situation in terms of the organization and operation of Chad Customs, followed by a gap analysis and the drawing up of recommendations.
Accordingly, in the days following this meeting the experts visited the Customs services at Nguéli (on the border with Cameroon) and at the international airport. The Mission Team also held meetings with DGDDI Directors and Heads of Service, private sector representatives (authorized Customs brokers, carriers, the Chamber of Commerce, employers’ associations and the BIVAC company) and the airport security services.
The mission was rounded off with a debriefing session held on Wednesday 2 February 2011 with the Director General and his management team. A copy of the report setting out an analysis of the situation together with recommendations was submitted for possible comment and opinion. The diagnostic report will form the basis for the next steps in the reform and modernization of Chad Customs.
The mission stressed the importance of moving forward with the reform on the basis of the diagnostic report, in order to develop a roadmap for modernization and see it through to implementation. The experts also set the Steering Committee’s mind at ease as to the readiness of the WCO and the ROCB WCA to meet future support requirements.