Strategic planning and AEO design and implementation support for El Salvador Customs
16-24 July 2012
At the request of Ms. Deisy Reynosa, Director of the National Customs Service of El Salvador, the WCO conducted a capacity building mission to assist in the prioritization of their needs within their modernization plan for the period 2010-2014. This mission was conducted by a WCO team composed of an officer from the WCO Secretariat and an accredited expert from the Spanish Customs administration, and jointly funded by the US Department of Commerce and the WCO Eurocustoms Fund.
Finance Vice Minister Mauricio Guardado and Customs DG Deisy Reynosa with WCO and AEO Management team.
The Salvadorian government including the Vice Minister of Finance and the Customs management demonstrated clear commitment to engage in designing and implementing an Authorized Economic Operator program as one of the top priorities of their administration. Related to this part of the Salvadorian Customs modernization plan, the mission firstly dealt with the co-operation with the private sector. The WCO was invited to participate as a speaker in a Customs and Border Management workshop in El Salvador on July 16 – 17, 2012. The workshop was organized by the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of State and the US Customs and Border Protection Agency.The objective was to facilitate a dialogue between the public and the private sector on various customs and border management reforms. The WCO mission then also included a couple of visits to envisaged AEO companies in order to let the Salvadorian customs colleagues experience how a dialogue with the private sector could continue also in the future leading to exchange of experience and better mutual understanding.
Dialogue with the private sector during the Customs and Border Management workshop
The second work area of the mission focused more on the Customs administration itself where the management team started to work on a more detailed prioritization of work areas and Capacity Building needs. The respective plan resulting from this work mainly included Post Audit Control, Harmonized System, Risk Management and Valuation. Moreover, the WCO team worked with the AEO team at an operational and technical level. This work contributed to validating the requirements, benefits, framework, suspension, operational procedures and engagement with the private sector, and to come up with a roadmap for a short and medium term perspective.
Awareness session with all senior managers of the Salvadorian Customs Administration.
While now the administration continues to follow and comply with the AEO roadmap, the WCO will continue to provide support in this area from a distance. The WCO is equally committed to further support the administration also in other areas, as the administration moves forward with its modernization.