WCO explores international cooperation to strengthen Customs laboratories

20 December 2016

Mr. Christian Bock, the Director General of Swiss Customs, who has professional experience in metrology, visited the Headquarters of the WCO in Brussels on Tuesday 20th December 2016, where he introduced representatives of the ‘Bureau International des Poids et Mesures’ (BIPM), also known as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, to the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya.  

Dr. Martin J.T. Milton, the Director of the BIPM, and Dr. Robert Wielgosz, the Director of the BIPM Chemistry Department, presented the BIPM's mission and roles, and expressed their willingness to explore potential collaboration with the WCO.

The BIPM is an intergovernmental organization that develops the technical and organizational infrastructure of the International System of Units (SI), which is used as a basis for the world-wide traceability of measurement results, both through technical activities in laboratories and international coordination. Within the world-wide metrology community, the BIPM Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer Programme aims to increase the effectiveness of those Member States and Associates with emerging metrology systems.

Dr. Mikuriya explained the functions of Customs laboratories as well as its needs with regard to sharing best practices and enhancing its international/regional networks.  Both sides agreed to explore possible synergies, and consider areas of potential cooperation between the two organizations.

Separately, Director General Bock and Secretary General Mikuriya had an insightful bilateral meeting to discuss matters of mutual interest.