Brussels, 27 June 2014
Building on the discussions at the 5th Session of the WCO Capacity Building Committee in March – April 2014, the WCO’s Capacity Building Directorate hosted a roundtable on the margins of the 123rd / 124th WCO Council sessions, which served to reinforce the 2014 Capacity Building theme of "Strong People – Strong Organizations: Investing in People as the basis for Organizational Development". The WCO’s Framework of Principles and Practices on Customs Professionalism, which includes best practices on strategic human resources management, recruitment, training and career paths, was presented along with examples of the application of these principles in practice. The European Union’s Customs Competency Framework was presented by the Commission’s Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General (TAXUD) as a flexible competency-based management tool with broad-based applicability to national-level administrations. Examples of the application of the training pillar of the Framework of Principles and Practices on Customs Professionalism were shared by Uganda and Rwanda. The roundtable also provided the opportunity for the WCO to highlight key complementary people development tools, including the Customs-specific Gender Equality Organizational Assessment Tool, the Virtual Customs Orientation Academy and the CLiKC! learning and knowledge platform. These and other capacity building tools support the WCO’s view that one of the most important assets in Customs modernization and reform is an administration’s people. In this respect, the WCO will continue to support its Members in their efforts to make strategic investments in people. For information, please contact the Capacity Building Directorate on capacity.building@wcoomd.org. Presentations from the roundtable are available in the download section