Under the auspices of the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project, the World Customs Organization (WCO) successfully conducted the second Working Group activity (WG2) of the Master Trainer Programme (MTP) on Risk Management (RM) and Post Clearance Audit (PCA) for the Pacific Islands (PIs) in Nadi, Fiji, from 28 April to 2 May 2025. The Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) graciously hosted the event.
Twenty-nine Working Group (WG) members on RM and PCA from eight WCO Members, namely Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu, participated in the working group activity.
In the same week, the advanced workshops on HS Classification (HS) and Customs Valuation (CV) were conducted under the same auspices in cooperation with the Oceania Customs Organization (OCO) in Nadi, Fiji, from 28 April to 1 May.
WG2 and the advanced workshops shared an opening ceremony, which was attended and addressed by Ms. Laisa Naivalurua, Operations Manager of the OCO, Mr. Satoshi Wakasugi, Resident Representative of JICA Fiji Office, and Mr. Marika Vuniyayawa, Chief Customs Officer, Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS).
Ms. Naivalurua highlighted that the joint opening ceremony showcased the true spirit of collaboration and partnership among the relevant organizations, including the WCO and the OCO, and expected the participants to become the foundation of Customs excellence across the Pacific region.
Mr. Wakasugi pointed out that the MTP was aligned with strengthening capacity building for financial management included in the Joint Action Plan of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM 10) held in Tokyo, Japan, in July 2024.
Mr. Vuniayava expressed his gratitude to the WCO and JICA and welcomed all participants to Fiji. He emphasized that the MTP program would create a pool of qualified trainers within Customs authorities and strengthen regional cooperation. He also noted the importance of developing technical knowledge in specific areas to improve the overall efficiency of Customs operations.
During WG2, the WG members acquired methods and skills/techniques to develop and deliver capacity-building activities through Training of Trainer (ToT) sessions while continuously strengthening their expertise in RM and PCA. The members also received tailored lectures from WCO and Japan Customs experts on RM/PCA regarding specific topics identified as challenges at the first working group activity and actively discussed them. At the end of WG2, the WG members developed a work plan to achieve the goal of the MTP.
Looking ahead, the third WG activity is anticipated to take place in October 2025. Until the third WG, the working group members will engage in intersessional activities, such as maintaining and improving their knowledge, taking an e-learning course and attending relevant WCO conferences.
Regarding the advanced workshops, they followed previous workshops on HS and CV held by the WCO/JICA Joint Project in cooperation with the OCO in January 2024 in Fiji on the occasion of the fifth Working Group activity of the MTP on HS and CV for the Pacific Islands.
The OCO Secretariat invited twenty-six participants from the OCO Customs administrations, including the WCO Member Customs administrations and experts from Japan and Uruguay. Three Master Trainers from Fiji and Vanuatu who completed the previous MTP on HS and CV for the Pacific Islands participated in the advanced workshops as lecturers.
During the advanced workshops, the experts introduced many key elements and advanced topics of HS classification and Customs Valuation, which were intensively discussed among the participants, including the General Interpretative Rules (GIRs) of the Harmonized System and the transaction value of imported goods.
The workshops testified to the strong collaboration between the WCO and the OCO in strengthening the region’s Customs administrations’ capacity for proper revenue collection and trade facilitation. It was also crucial for implementing the WCO’s capacity-building strategy, as they utilized the pool of experts in the beneficiary region.
For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.