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30 July 2014
The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Yury Fedotov, and the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, met in Vienna on 29 July 2014 to discuss the significant achievements of the UNODC/WCO co-managed Global Container Control Programme, which is in operation in 20 countries.
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25 July 2014
A major operation supported by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and INTERPOL targeting the criminal groups linked to the illegal timber trade in Peru has resulted in the seizure of wood and wood products worth 20.6 million US dollars. Illicit logging is estimated to cost Peru 250 million US dollars per year!
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23 July 2014
At the invitation of the Director General of Paraguay Customs, Mr. Nelson Valiente, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited Asunción, Paraguay on 18 July 2014.
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22 July 2014
The 6th Steering Committee (SC) Meeting of the Finnish-funded WCO Project "Building Trade Capacity through Customs Modernization in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) Region" took place in Brussels, Belgium, on the 25th of June 2014 in the margins of the WCO Council sessions.
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22 July 2014
Recognising the extensive potential benefits to developing, transition and least developed economies from the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
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22 July 2014
On 22 July 2014, the World Customs Organization and a number of other international organizations and development partners (ITC, OECD, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNECLAC, UNESCAP, UNESCWA, WBG) issued a Joint Statement expressing their commitment and coordinated approach to providing technical assistance, capacity building and other forms of assistance to developing, transition and least-developed countries in their efforts to implement the provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
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18 July 2014
The Director General of Brazil Customs, Mr. Ernani Checcucci Filho, and the Director General of Uruguay Customs, Mr. Enrique Canon, signed a Pilot Project in the context of a Customs Supply Chain Security Programme at Uruguay’s Ministry of Economy and Finance in Montevideo on 17 July 2014. The WCO Secretary General, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, participated in the signing ceremony.
This Pilot Project between the two countries will ensure that the bilateral supply chain is secured and facilitated for certified compliant traders, in line with the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards. This initiative responds to the two countries’ high-level agenda to facilitate and increase intra-regional trade aimed at expanding trade up to the MERCOSUR level. Initially, the two countries will start jointly certifying compliant exporters, transporters and Customs brokers at both ends of the bilateral supply chain. Goods dealt with by certified operators will be inspected at points of export and cleared at points of import without further import inspection.
Secretary General Mikuriya applauded this bilateral undertaking as a contribution to supply chain security and facilitation of trade in goods, starting at the bilateral level and extending to the regional and global levels.
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18 July 2014
At the invitation of Mr. Victor Gamas, President of the Mexican Association of Customs Brokers (CAAAREM), WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended CAAAREM’s 75th National Congress on 10 and 11 July 2014 in Cancun, Mexico.
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18 July 2014
Over the recent months, the WCO has worked closely with Liberia Customs in the area of performance measurement and the fight against corruption.
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18 July 2014
A regional project of the UN Development Programme entitled "Anti-Corruption and Integrity in the Arab Countries" invited the WCO to participate in and moderate a Customs panel on "Key areas of corruption vulnerabilities in the interface between the public and private sector: risks and remedies".
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17 July 2014
At the invitation of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) and Uruguay’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in a Seminar on “Modernization of Customs Management for Trade Facilitation”. This event was organized jointly by ALADI and the MEF at ALADI Headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 16 July 2014, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the WCO. The objective was to share and analyse Customs modernization experiences in the context of Latin American regional integration, taking into account last year’s adoption of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation.
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16 July 2014
The first Seminar was held in the headquarters of AAAPUMAC (Asociación de Agentes de Aduana del puerto de Manzanillo y Colima) in Manzanillo from 3 to 4 July 2014. The Seminar was a joint initiative of the WCO, the SAT (Servicio de Administración Tributaria of Mexico) and AAAPUMAC.
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16 July 2014
The WCO Career Development Programme for 2013/2014 ended successfully with a ceremony at which the seven Professional Associates were awarded certificates on their successful completion of the Programme.
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15 July 2014
The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Trademark Association (INTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the WCO headquarters in Brussels on 14 July 2014.
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11 July 2014
The WCO Council, at its 123rd/124th Sessions in June 2014, adopted a Recommendation that lists recommended amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature which will enter into force on 1 January 2017 (HS 2017).
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11 July 2014
The World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Customs Co-operation Fund (CCF) has now been recognized by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) as being Official Development Assistance (ODA)-eligible for reporting on 2013 ODA flows. The contribution to the WCO CCF in and after 2013 will be reported as ODA.
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11 July 2014
Twelve critically endangered iguanas seized from smugglers by UK Border Force officers at London’s Heathrow Airport have been returned home to their native Bahamas.
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08 July 2014
The WCO launched its national Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) application in yet another country in the East and Southern Africa region, in the Seychelles. Following the pilot projects in Mauritius and Kenya, the nCEN is already operational in Namibia and Swaziland.
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08 July 2014
Building on the discussions at the 5th Session of the WCO Capacity Building Committee in March – April 2014, the WCO’s Capacity Building Directorate hosted a roundtable on the margins of the 123rd / 124th WCO Council sessions, which served to reinforce the 2014 Capacity Building theme of “Strong People – Strong Organizations: Investing in People as the basis for Organizational Development”.
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03 July 2014
The Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P), in cooperation with the WCO and Thai Customs, organized a WCO National Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights at the Thai Customs Academy, in Bangkok, Thailand from 24 to 27 June 2014 under the sponsorship of the WCO Customs Cooperation Fund/Japan.
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03 July 2014
WCO Revenue Conference held in Brussels
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02 July 2014
WCO IPM Mobile helps the detection and seizure of counterfeit footwear during Operation Biyela 2
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01 July 2014
On 28 June 2014, Brunei Darussalam deposited with the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System).
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01 July 2014
The eighth meeting of the MENA Regional Training Group in charge of setting up the regional training action plan was held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) on 28 and 29 May 2014, in cooperation with the WCO Vice-Chair's office for the MENA region (Morocco), and with the participation of representatives from Abu Dhabi Customs (host administration), Saudi Arabia (RTC of Riyadh), Libya, Jordan and Lebanon (RTC of Beirut), and the Regional Office for Capacity Building of the MENA region (ROCB-MENA).
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01 July 2014
On 28 June 2014, at the 123rd/124th Sessions of the Customs Co-operation Council, the Secretary General of the WCO Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, in his capacity as the depository of the Convention, took receipt of the instruments of accession of Togo and Cambodia to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention).
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