In September 2016 ERCA accepted a Mercator Programme Plan which highlighted seven Technical priorities that included support in advance rulings, risk management, post-clearance audit, time-release study, authorized economic operators, transit and domestic border agency. The WCO Mercator Programme is designed to provide a multi-year; iterative and results-oriented support to WCO members in the effective implementation of the WTO TFA, as part of a broader Customs reform and modernization agenda. In line with the seven priorities, the WCO undertook a PCA diagnostic mission in the framework of the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD TFA Capacity Building Programme with the generous financial support of the Government of the United Kingdom through Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The WCO PCA diagnostic mission was conducted from 27 February-03 March 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The objective of the mission was to identify specific capacity support requirements for PCA and to develop a tailor made support programme for the ERCA PCA. The mission began with ERCA PCA division presenting their processes, including organizational/divisional strategies, human resource strategies, legislation and policy, audit plan and its performances, IT support, links to Risk Management and other key division within the ERCA. The diagnostics included discussions with directors from other divisions within ERCA, including IT, legal, Risk Management, Customs Processing and Border Management and Valuations. Walkthrough visits were conducted at Bole Airport and Kaliti Inland Port to understand the clearance processes and links to the PCA activities and discussions conducted with the local PCA teams on actual PCA processes and workflows.

The mission also included discussions with external stakeholders, four representatives from the biggest companies in Ethiopia, on the role of the PCA function and their understanding and expectations. In concluding the mission, the WCO team presented to ERCA PCA management, specialists and senior auditors the outcomes of the diagnostic and further developed a proposed action plan to move the diagnostic recommendations forward under Ethiopia’s Mercator Implementation Plan. This is considered as a critical milestone in building a relationship with the ERCA PCA division in developing results oriented support for effective Post Clearance Audit. The ERCA PCA Director and PCA team were happy with the results of the diagnostic and are looking forward the support provided by the WCO and the Mercator Programme and also indicated that some of the areas identified for improvement will be implemented with immediate effect.