WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya met with Mr. Victor Gaspar, Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF, on Friday 22 September 2017 in Washington, D.C to discuss the further enhancement of Customs-Tax cooperation.

Customs are actively engaged in revenue protection but their remit also extends to very important non-revenue functions such as trade facilitation and border security, aspects that support economic development in a safe environment and that contribute to the generation of revenue in the future. It is critical that the non-revenue role of Customs is properly resourced.

Secretary General Mikuriya highlighted the necessity for the IMF to highlight these non-revenue roles in any material made available to Members when they are considering structural reform. In this context, collection of Customs data, under the proposed MoU between the WCO and the IMF would be of value and greatly assist in supporting the arguments for a properly resourced Customs.

Dr. Mikuriya also took the opportunity, during his visit in Washington, D.C, to meet with Mr. Kevin K. Mc Aleenan, Acting Commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection, to discuss matters of mutual interest including US support in financial, technological and policy areas.