From 15 to 17 December 2021, the World Customs Organization (WCO) organized a virtual workshop on HS 2022 amendments intended for French-speaking African Customs administrations, within the context of the EU-WCO Program on the Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme). Thirty officials and experts specializing in fields related to tariff classification of goods, representing 14 Member administrations and the Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), took part in the workshop.

The objective of the workshop was to introduce participants to the amendments of the HS that have been adopted with the 2022 edition. The workshop was also an opportunity to discuss a wide range of HS-related topics. Participants were briefed on certain practical aspects of the transposition of national tariffs to the new version of the HS in order to guarantee the correct and uniform application of the HS Nomenclature.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Konstantinos Kaiopoulos, Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs of the WCO, expressed his gratitude to all participants for their continued engagement in HS-related capacity building initiatives. He recalled that the WCO, as part of its continued action to develop instruments and tools addressing the needs of Customs administrations and taking due account of their operational reality, spared no effort to disseminate the information necessary to implement each new HS version in a timely manner.

During the various sessions of the workshop, detailed explanations were provided to the participants in order to strengthen the common understanding of the amendments and to facilitate the implementation of the new edition of the HS at the national level. In addition, the workshop provided an opportunity to present WCO tools and instruments, including the new “WCO Trade Tools” platform, which have been developed to help HS users classify products correctly and consistently. The workshop participants reiterated the commitment of their administrations to ensure the implementation of the HS 2022 version in a coordinated and efficient manner, in collaboration with the WCO and, in particular, the HS-Africa Program.

For more information, please contact hs@wcoomd.org or capacity.building@wcoomd.org.