Working visit to Algeria

Algiers, 4-6 March 2012

Report

At the invitation of Abdou Bouderbala, Director General of Algerian Customs, Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the WCO, visited Algiers to open the Research Conference on the use of measurement in Customs, organized by the WCO, Algerian Customs and the World Bank, and held on 5 and 6 March 2012.

This visit was the occasion for a meeting with senior management in the Directorate General who presented the main lines of reform, based on a strong political commitment over the past five years to combat corruption and smuggling and to establish a culture of results through performance measurement.

The visit continued at the Business School in Algiers, the Ecole supérieure des Affaires d'Alger, with which Algerian Customs plan to establish research and advanced training partnerships for its managers and to create a specialist Master’s degree for Customs officials from French-speaking countries.

On site in the Port of Algiers, the Secretary General was introduced to the work of Customs and the scanners used for clearance of goods and inspections on passenger vehicles. He noted the close attention paid by Algerian Customs to improving relations with users and its interaction with the private sector. Algerian Customs have developed know-how on a theoretical level, by developing research on this subject in partnership with an Algerian scientific research centre, and on a practical level, by installing specific tools for communication and conflict resolution.

The visit ended with a meeting with the Algerian Finance Minister, Karim Djoudi, who is lending strong political support to the ongoing modernization of Algerian Customs.