XXVIth Meeting of the Directors General of Customs of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries

Guinea-Bissau, 17-21 October 2011

Report

The XXVIth Meeting of the Directors General of Customs of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) was held in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, from 17 to 21 October 2011, under the chairmanship of Mr. Domenico Sanca, the Director General of Guinea-Bissau Customs.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Secretary of State for the Guinea-Bissau Treasury, Mr. José Carlos Casimiro, who emphasized the key role played by Customs in respect of taxation and the rigorous control of all goods transported by land, sea and air. He considered the topics on the Agenda for the meeting to be particularly relevant, and he referred to the many challenges in the current global economic and financial context which required cooperation with all partners at international level.

The meeting heard presentations on Members’ experience of many topical issues, including post-clearance audit; combating of counterfeiting and piracy; combating of fraud; training, capacity building and human resources; Customs reform and modernization; integration in Customs, Economic and Monetary Unions; management and impact of Customs exemptions; and the importation of motor vehicles. Each of the presentations was followed by a comprehensive discussion.

The representative of the WCO spoke on the current initiatives and priorities of the Organization, concentrating on a number of core topics: trade facilitation; Globally Networked Customs; protection of society; the Revenue Package, capacity building; the Customs-Business partnership; governance; and the use of the Portuguese language at the WCO.

The Secretary General of the Conference of CPLP Directors General, Mr. Francisco Curinha, made several presentations, including one on the CPLP Customs website. The Meeting welcomed the new Portuguese-speaking Professional Associate at the WCO, Mr. Oluimo Da Silva, from Angola.