Picture: John Fonseca, Héctor González, Carlos Carranza y Daniel Perrier (Photo by Jorge Carvajal)

Cooperation between the World Customs Organization and the University of Costa Rica (UCR) has become very active in the last years. The UCR has made considerable efforts to contribute to the PICARD Programme, through participation in its advisory group and by making resource people available to support various management development events organized by the WCO.

In November 2010, the University’s Customs Management and International Trade Bachelor and Masters Programmes received formal accreditation by the WCO, based on the established PICARD Professional Standards. The UCR currently has over 700 enrolled in this programme in Costa Rica and interest in these topics is in constant evolution among the student population.

In the context of its collaboration with the WCO, the UCR invited Mr. Daniel Perrier, Capacity Building Directorate, WCO Secretariat, to give a lecture on the issues and challenges faced by Customs in the 21^st Century. The event, held at the University on March 31, 2011, was open to all students in the programme as well as faculty members.

The event began with opening remarks by Mr. Héctor González Morera, Vice rector of Administration, who reminded the audience how the Customs management and International Trade Programme is the first to be recognized by the WCO in the Americas region, only the fifth in the World.

Mr. Carlos Carranza Villalobos, Director of the UCR School of Public Administration, reaffirmed the need for Costa Rica, and the UCR programmes, to continue to renew themselves to meet the challenges brought on by globalization, to take advantage of new Technologies and new directions in the area of International trade. The opening session was also an occasion for the WCO to deliver the PICARD recognition certificate before a Costa Rican audience.

The lecture that followed focused on presenting the 10 building blocks identified by the WCO to ensure modern and effective Customs administration that can meet the challenges of the 21^st Century. The building block include, among others, Globally networked Customs, Intelligence-driven risk management, Coordinate border management, Customs-Trade partnerships, and Capacity building. The topics covered proved to be of great interest to the audience and generated interesting exchange on the role of Customs and the private sector in contributing to the development of the Customs environment.