At the invitation of Mr. Jorge Rachid, Secretary of the Receita Federal of Brazil (RFB), WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya visited Brasilia, Brazil on 20 and 21 November 2018 to join in the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the RFB.
At the inaugural session, Mr. Michel Temer, President of the Republic, congratulated the RFB, including both Customs and Tax, on its achievements. In his speech, he paid tribute to Customs officers who work in difficult environments. RFB Secretary Rachid spoke about the history of his Administration, and future directions. In the Customs area, he specifically mentioned the RFB’s efforts in support of trade and the AEO programme.
At the international seminar on “The Tax and Customs Administration: New Directions and Challenges” which followed the inaugural session, Secretary General Mikuriya congratulated the RFB on its progress and its contribution to the global Customs community, adding that where revenue collection is concerned, Brazil is recognized as a reference in the area of Customs-Tax cooperation for the exchange of information and joint audits. This cooperation enables Customs to have access to information on taxpayers’ incomes for risk profiling, while Tax also benefits from Customs information, especially in terms of indirect taxes.
Secretary General Mikuriya continued by highlighting the RFB’s contribution to economic competitiveness through Customs-Business partnership for a more open trade environment – Brazil’s recent move up the rankings in the ‘Trading Across Borders’ section of the World Bank’s Doing Business Survey being one example of this. He also remarked that Brazil’s AEO system extends to other Government agencies through Single Window, and to other countries through Mutual Recognition Agreements.
Dr. Mikuriya went on to explain that the WCO has just embarked on a review of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) in order to keep pace with technological developments. He suggested that Brazil ratify the RKC to show its commitment to the simplification of trade procedures, and take on a leadership role in the RKC review process. He expressed the hope that in spite of its focus on revenue, Brazil would direct resource allocations towards another non-fiscal function of Customs, namely security and protecting society from illicit trade, because of its relevance to economic competitiveness in terms of attracting more trade and investment.
Finally, after commending the RFB’s track record on human resource management and integrity, Dr. Mikuriya wished the RFB all the best for the future, and looked forward to its continuing active contribution to the WCO.