At the invitation of Mr. Julian Würtenberger, Director General of German Customs Administration, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited Nuremberg for bilateral meetings during which a wide range of topics of mutual interest were discussed.　

Secretary General Mikuriya briefed Mr. Würtenberger and his team on WCO activities related to the adoption of the Protocol on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) at the WTO. He spoke about the WCO’s Mercator Programme, which combines a range of WCO instruments, tools, guidelines and best practices to assist Members in meeting their obligations in terms of implementing the various provisions of the TFA. In the initial stages of the Programme, WCO would engage in awareness-raising among its Members through a series of Regional Workshops.　

In response, Mr. Würtenberger said he would encourage the German development organization (GIZ) to consider funding WCO assistance programs. He added that he would ensure that German experts would be available to continue work already underway, courtesy of German CCF funding. Further assistance by Germany for other projects could be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The meeting reflected on the heightened security situation following a recent spate of terrorist acts throughout Europe. The WCO SAFE programme established over the past ten years addresses supply chain security and facilitation issues. Progress in Advanced Passenger Information (API), and Personal Name Records (PNR) was noted, although Data Protection and information exchange restrictions hampered mutual assistance and made it difficult to share information.

The Secretary General and the Director General also discussed the possibility of additional German personnel in the WCO in both attaché and budget post positions. Mr. Würtenberger provided information on the current restructuring of German Customs. The meeting concluded with both parties agreeing to continue to cooperate closely on issues of common interest.