WCO conducts an Accreditation workshop for Russian speaking Customs Modernization Advisors

11 March 2011

The WCO conducts an Accreditation workshop for Russian speaking Customs Modernization Advisors

Brussels, 14-18 February 2011

Faced with an increasing request for strategic planning missions in the WCO Europe region the WCO responded to the need of developing a pool of Customs Modernization Advisors with Russian language skills.

In this context, an accreditation workshop for Customs Modernization Advisors was hosted in period 14 – 18 February 2011 at the premises of the WCO Secretariat. This workshop primarily targeted Russian/English speaking officers from the European region, but also enabled the development of advisory skills of Customs experts from other regions who are currently working at the WCO Secretariat either as staff members or under the WCO Internship programme.

The Customs Modernization Advisors accreditation workshop is part of the WCO strategic approach to obtain a wider access to Capacity Building experts and to ensure their qualified services to the WCO Columbus Programme and other WCO modernization initiatives.

As a result of this workshop a total of 6 experts qualified as potential future Customs advisors; they will be called upon to participate in In-field missions for finalization of the accreditation process as soon as opportunity occurs. It is therefore hoped that these experts will be released by their administrations for their contribution in activities under the WCO Capacity Building agenda.

The participants` feedback to this very interactive workshop was very positive and reflected on their overall satisfaction and the benefit of the lessons learnt, the information received and the exchange of experience with other colleagues from the region and from the WCO Secretariat.

To further benefit from this momentum, a closed workshop forum has been created at the new WCO Learning and Knowledge Community portal –CliKC-. It allows easy access to all workshop material and outputs and a continued dialogue amongst the workshop participants and the facilitators.