At the invitation of Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD, WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended the 14th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 17 to 22 July 2016. The quadrennial ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of UNCTAD and was attended by more than 5,000 participants, including Heads of State and Government, Ministers and representatives of governments, international institutions, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and the private sector. The theme of the Conference was “From decision to action : moving toward an inclusive and equitable global economic environment for trade and development”.

Deputy Secretary General Mujica participated in the World Leaders Summit and Round Table of Heads of Agencies, along with the Presidents of Kenya and Namibia, the Vice-Presidents of Comoros and Uganda, and several Heads of international organizations with competence in trade and development. The participants highlighted the importance of implementation and partnership as key concepts in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Agenda 2030. Mr. Mujica introduced the main WCO instruments and tools that can support the implementation of the SDG and reaffirmed the full support of the international Customs community to achieve these goals.

The Deputy Secretary General also attended the launch of the “e-Trade for All Initiative”, which brings together international organizations, donors and business leaders to raise awareness of the opportunities, challenges and potential solutions - including best practices - related to e-commerce. The WCO is one of the Founding Partners of this initiative and Mr. Mujica highlighted the main challenges and opportunities associated with the substantial growth in e-commerce, as well as the latest developments in the WCO agenda to assist Members in addressing emerging facilitation and control-related issues.