October 2014
At the request of Ms. Marlene Ardaya, Executive President of the National Customs of Bolivia, the WCO conducted a Capacity Building mission, as part of the Columbus Programme, to assist with the ongoing modernization process and to support work on the development of a new Strategic Plan. Two experts from the WCO conducted the mission to Bolivia over the period 20 – 29 of October 2014.
The National Customs of Bolivia has a strong commitment to modernization and was looking to review and update its existing Strategic Plan to help guide the organizational development of Customs for many years to come.
The WCO experts worked with officers at regional and national levels to develop a revised Strategic Plan and a supporting modernization Action Plan. The review addressed five strategic objectives of the current Strategic Plan mainly: facilitation, control, resources, revenue and transparency. In undertaking this work the WCO experts took into consideration the Columbus Programme diagnostic report completed in 2005 and recommendations made by the IMF in a review completed in 2013.
The revised Strategic Plan includes a Vision for the future development of Customs and sets out a series of objectives that focus on building a Customs administration that can best meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The WCO experts also prepared a report with recommendations based on the implementation of the new Strategic Plan, making reference to best practice and the availability of WCO tools and instruments to support the modernization programme.
WCO will continue to provide technical assistance and support to help finalize and implement the new Strategic Plan and associated modernization programme.
The mission was funded by the Eurocustoms Fund and conducted as part of the WCO Columbus Programme.
The WCO would like to thank all officers of the National Customs of Bolivia for their help and support during the mission.