On the occasion of International Customs Day, the Geneva Customs Delegates invited the WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya to an online meeting with the objective of strengthening the dialogue between the Customs community in Brussels and Geneva and for discussing topics of mutual interest.

The introductory meeting was chaired by Ms. Sheri Rosenow (WTO) in her capacity as the President of the Geneva Customs Club, consisting of 19 active members from 12 WTO missions and four international organizations.

Dr. Mikuriya wished all the participants a happy International Customs Day. He expressed his appreciation for the tremendous effort by all Customs officers during the pandemic and shared the WCO’s vision for the theme of the year 2021 under the slogan “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”. He further explained the long tradition of cooperation between the WCO and the WTO, the priorities of his Organization for the year ahead, including COVID-19-related activities and focus on technology, and offered to further assist the WTO and the Geneva Customs community work in the areas of joint interest, such as implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and E-Commerce.

The Customs Club members expressed sincere appreciation for the Secretary General’s participation with the hope that the dialogue will continue hopefully someday soon in person in Brussels and Geneva.