The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on 27 January 2015.

The MOC was signed by Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya of the WCO and President Akihiko Tanaka of JICA at WCO headquarters, in the presence of Mr. Yoichiro Yamada, Minister, Embassy of Japan in Belgium.

The MOC establishes a framework for cooperation and collaboration between the WCO and JICA, and aims to enhance the economic development of recipient countries by assisting their Customs administrations in their capacity building, developmental and modernization efforts.

Secretary General Mikuriya referenced the longstanding and fruitful cooperation which exists between the WCO and JICA, not least of which the JICA One Stop Border Post projects in Africa furnished with WCO technical expertise, and welcomed the MOC as a step towards formalizing and upgrading the partnership.

Briefly touching upon the WCO’s theme for 2015 of "Coordinated Border Management" (CBM) and Custom’s role in the context of regional integration, Secretary General Mikuriya underlined the importance of improving and expediting border processing by enhancing cooperation between Customs administrations and their partners. He also described the Mercator Programme, supporting the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which provides vital impetus for Customs modernization. He added that the time is ripe to upgrade WCO-JICA cooperation and collaboration in an innovative way, through the MOC.

In sharing common goals and visions, Secretary General Mikuriya and President Tanaka are convinced that the MOC will ensure that the WCO and JICA can develop greater synergy with respective advantages. They agreed to periodically hold a policy dialogue and to explore the possibility of further tangible projects and activities to support developing countries based on the MOC.