A National Workshop on the implementation of an advanced ruling system was held in Nukualofa, Kingdom of Tonga, from 13 to 17 January 2025. The Workshop was organized jointly by the WCO and Tonga Customs Administration, with the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) of Japan. It was facilitated by an accredited expert on HS from Spain and two pre-accredited experts from Japan and Tonga, and attended in-person by 18 officials and managers from Tonga Customs.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. Michael COKANASIGA; Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Revenue, spoke on behalf of Tonga Customs and highlighted the importance of HS classification as one of the pillars of Customs. He emphasized the importance of having an advance ruling system for the improvement of tariff classification infrastructure in the country. He thanked the WCO and CCF Japan for working together with Tonga Customs Administration to strengthen this important technical area. He encouraged the participants to take the opportunity to improve the technical works focusing on the modernization of the current classification work model in the country, which have direct linkage on revenue collection.
The Workshop’s focus was to develop an Action Plan to improve the institutional capacity to carry out classification in an efficient manner. Furthermore, the Workshop offered an opportunity to discuss the WCO guidelines and to assist users of the HS to modernize their tariff classification work and related infrastructure.
The presentations included the WCO guidelines on Advance Rulings and on Customs Infrastructure for Classification, Valuation and Origin as well as a perspective of these guidelines in the context of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. One participant presented the organizational structure and functions of the Tonga Customs Administration, including details on its tariff classification model.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Michael COKANASIGA thanked the WCO and CCF Japan for their ongoing capacity building support and expressed his confidence on the practical benefits for the participants of Tonga Customs after the discussions on a wide range of topics on tariff classification and advanced rulings held during the workshop.