At the invitation of the Malawi Revenue Authority, Vice-Chair of the East and Southern Africa (ESA) Region, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the 20th Meeting of the Governing Council of the ESA Region, held in Luanda, Angola, on 9 and 10 April 2015. The Meeting was hosted by Mr. Valentim J. Manuel, Director General of the Angola Revenue Service, and was chaired by Ms. Rosa Mbilizi of the Malawi Revenue Service.

Addressing participants, the Secretary of State at the Angolan Department of Finance, Ms. Valentina Filipe, spoke of the important role of Customs in trade facilitation and revenue collection. She emphasized the many challenges faced by Customs and the need to address those challenges in a manner conducive to achieving synergy between the trade sector and implementing authorities, in order to facilitate the movement of goods and the protection of revenue.

Secretary General Mikuriya briefed the Meeting participants on current developments in the WCO, particularly the outcomes of the December 2014 Policy Commission, concentrating on performance measurement; the importance of information sharing; trade facilitation; the impact of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the WCO Mercator Programme; the Security Programme – which includes initiatives such as Programme Global Shield, the Strategic Trade Controls Enforcement Project, and addresses small and light weapons controls and terrorist financing; the revision of the SAFE Framework; terrorism and the recommendations of the Policy Commission regarding procedures for election of Directors in June 2015.

The Meeting discussed a wide range of topics including: the threat of terrorism; use of Advanced Passenger Information; wildlife crime; trade facilitation; Revised Kyoto Convention accession; various reports from the Regional Vice-Chair, the Regional Office of Capacity Building and the Regional Steering Group; as well as financial and audit issues.

Burundi's request to join the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) was approved during the Meeting. The Governing Council endorsed the "Performance Measurement Achieving Excellence in Customs Indicators" as presented by the Secretary General, noting that a more detailed second tier would be developed in due course to ensure a consistent approach to completion of the Indicators.

South Africa was nominated to take over as Regional Vice-Chair from July 2015, with Uganda as Deputy Vice-Chair. Angola was proposed as the third regional Member of the Policy Commission, Burundi was proposed as a delegate to the Finance Committee, and Zimbabwe and Tanzania will continue to fulfill their role as delegates to the Audit Committee.

During his visit to Angola, Secretary General Mikuriya met with the Vice-President of the Republic of Angola, Dr. Manuel Vicente, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Armando Manuel, and Dr. Alvaro Manuel Junior, Secretary of State of Trade, as well as the Director General of the Revenue Service, Valentim J. Manuel, and the Revenue Management Board.

A wide range of issues were discussed, including Tax and Customs Administration reform, trade facilitation, Angola's accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention (on which Angola's procedures are already based), private sector consultation, use of information technology, coordinated border management, single window and risk management.

Mr. Mikuriya expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome he and the delegates from the ESA Region had received, for Angola's continued strong support of the Secretariat and its work, and the excellent organization of the Governing Council.

Photo 2: Kunio Mikuriya (second from the left) and Ms. Rosa Mbilizi of the Malawi Revenue Service (third from the left) at the opening ceremony of the 20th Meeting of the Governing Council of the ESA Region, Luanda, Angola, 9 April 2015.

Photo 3: Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, together with Mr. Armando Manuel, Minister of Finance of Angola, and Mr. Valentim J. Manuel, Director General of the Angola Revenue Service.

Photo 4: WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya greets Dr. Manuel Vicente, Vice-President of the Republic of Angola

Photo 5: From left to right: Mr. Valentim J. Manuel, Director General of the Angola Revenue Service, Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, and Dr. Manuel Vicente, Vice-President of the Republic of Angola