First Annual WCO Sub-Regional Donor Meeting for the Americas and Caribbean
Bridgetown, Barbados, 15-17 October 2012
The World Customs Organization (WCO) organized the First Sub-Regional Donor Meeting held in the Caribbean. The Meeting was hosted by the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) office in Bridgetown, Barbados, from 15 to 17 October 2012. The interactive working Meeting was moderated by Mr. Hector Landeros from the WCO Capacity Building Directorate and Mr. Paul Hilaire from the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC).
The objective of the Meeting was to further enhance the dialogue, coordination and cooperation between donors and donor administrations, and to strengthen collaboration and exchange of information resulting in joint ventures for the benefit of the Caribbean.
The Meeting started with welcoming words by Mr. Enrique Canon, Director General of Uruguay Customs, in his capacity as Vice-Chair of the WCO Americas and Caribbean Region. He highlighted the importance of this first Meeting on ways to engage the Caribbean Region to promote trade facilitation, in particular, throughout a comprehensive Customs reform and modernization process. The presentations that followed included discussions on current donor-funded projects, Customs initiatives in the region, benefits and challenges of collaboration with a view to reducing overlap and duplication of efforts, and general sharing of information arising from technical assistance missions. Space was also given to providing an overview of the WCO Capacity Building approach, programmes and supporting tools and guidelines.
It was agreed to continue the close working relationship between the WCO, CCLEC and interested donors and donor administrations – through regular communication and the pursuance of annual Meetings – and to build communication channels with Member administrations, supported by the use of the WCO Project Map Database. In addition, a need was identified to improve Customs administrations’ awareness of the various training tools available to them as well as to explore tripartite (CARTAC, CCLEC, WCO) regional training initiatives, such as leadership and management development and officer induction courses.
A video conference as a follow-up to this inaugural Meeting is scheduled to take place in January 2013 and will be organized jointly by CCLEC and the WCO.
WCO, Vice-Chair, CCLEC, IMF-CARTAC, World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Union, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)
In addition to the Sub-Regional Donor Meeting, the Regional Vice-Chair and the WCO representative, Mr. Hector Landeros, had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Frank Holder, Barbados Comptroller of Customs, to discuss issues of mutual interest, including the positive impact of the Sub-Regional Donor Meeting as well as the further development of cooperation with the WCO and within the region.
From L to R Vice-Chair for the Americas and Caribbean, Mr. Enrique Canon, Barbados Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Frank Holder and WCO Technical Officer, Mr. Hector Landeros