Terms of Reference for the Capacity Building Committee

Confirmed by the Council – 1 July 2009

Established : April 2010

The Capacity Building Committee acts under the overall direction of the WCO Council and Policy Commission, with administrative support provided by the WCO Secretariat. The mandate of the Capacity Building Committee is to initiate work and studies on capacity building, to consider overall capacity building priorities, and to prepare guidelines, standards, tools and instruments to support capacity building initiatives with the object of enabling the Council to discharge the obligations of the Convention Establishing the Customs Co-operation Council in accordance with the general purpose of the Convention.

Members attending the Capacity Building Committee should preferably be officials responsible for - and specialized in - the area of capacity building, namely, organizational development, strategy developers, change managers or heads of personnel. The Heads of the Regional Offices for Capacity Building shall also be members of the Committee. A Member may nominate one delegate and one or more alternates to be its representative(s) on the Capacity Building Committee. Representatives of members of the Capacity Building Committee may be assisted by advisers. Representatives of international governmental and trade organizations may attend meetings of the Capacity Building Committee as observers as is the case for certain other WCO Committees. Such observers have the right to take part in the discussions but not in the decision-making process.

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of the Capacity Building Committee is :

1. To advise the Policy Commission and the Council on the strategies and priorities to be adopted by the WCO in the areas of capacity building, training and technical assistance;

2. To oversee the capacity building activities of the Secretariat and to review these on a regular basis;

3. To promote the exchange of views, experiences, research and best practices, and facilitate improved co-operation between Customs administrations, the private sector, international organizations and academia;

4. To enhance communication and partnership with donors and other stakeholders to ensure awareness and promote effectiveness of WCO capacity building activities;

5. To give guidance to the WCO Capacity Building Directorate with regard to the development and updating of Standard Operating Procedures in the capacity building domain as well as the WCO Diagnostic Framework;

6. To set standards for capacity building and to promote improvements in the effectiveness of Customs through capacity-building-related tools, instruments and initiatives;

7. To support and regularly monitor, evaluate, and report on implementation of WCO standards and programmes in the capacity building area;

8. To promote measures that will increase the effectiveness of the regional structures in place (Regional Offices for Capacity Building and Regional Training Centres) and help Members to build their own capacity to manage change as well as seek human resources for the delivery of capacity building activities;

9. To identify cross-cutting capacity building issues and to ensure that these, as well as capacity building activities in general, are discussed within all WCO Committees and meetings.

Key Deliverables

The Capacity Building Committee will :

• Report directly and make recommendations to the Policy Commission and the Council on the matters within its area of responsibility;

• Initiate action in the areas of capacity building :
  • Standards and tools development;
  • Delivery of programmes;
  • Evaluation of impact;
  • Dissemination of best practice;
  • Identification of development needs.

Means of Operation

Rules of procedure :

• The Capacity Building Committee elects a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson each year, from among the representatives of its members. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are elected for a period of one year, and are eligible for re-election;
• The Committee may co-operate, promote joint projects, or share information and experiences, with relevant development agencies, business/private sector organizations, international organizations and academia in the field of capacity building, training and technical assistance;
• The Committee may appoint working groups to progress specific tasks. These working groups will report to the Committee;
• The Secretariat shall inform the WCO Members of the dates of the meeting and the draft

Agenda at least six weeks before the scheduled opening date;

• The Secretariat shall provide the working documents at least one month before the scheduled meeting date, by mail/e-mail or by placing them on the WCO Members’ Web site; and
• A Report shall be prepared for presentation to the Policy Commission.

Duration and Frequency of Meetings

The Capacity Building Committee shall meet at least once a year, at WCO Headquarters. If appropriate, the Committee’s sessions could be held back to-back with the Integrity Sub- Committee and meetings of the Regional Offices for Capacity Building and Regional Training Centres.

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