A WCO National Scoping Mission on Customs Laboratory was conducted at the headquarters of the Customs Department of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) in Port Louis from 8 to 12 July 2019, with a view to assisting the MRA with setting up a Customs Laboratory.

During the initial meeting with the senior management of the MRA, the Director of the Customs Department of the MRA, Mr. Vivekanand RAMBURUN, emphasized the important role played by Customs laboratories in ensuring the proper revenue collection and protection of the society and environment.  In this context, he stressed the urgent need for establishing a Customs Laboratory in Mauritius for the implementation of the “Test procedures” set out in the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA).  He thanked the representatives from the WCO Secretariat for facilitating the high-level discussion on this topic.

The Mission focused on the identification and prioritization of the location, equipment and analysis needs in terms of tariff classification and enforcement purposes, as well as the trade volume of each relevant commodity in order to set up a well-designed and well-functioned Customs Laboratory in Mauritius, in the most effective and efficient manner. Comprehensive discussions were held between WCO experts and Mauritius Customs officials, as well as other different stakeholders, such as experts from the Ministry of Environment, the Dangerous Chemical Control Board and the Pharmacy Board.  In this context, a visit to the Agriculture Technology Laboratory was also conducted to study good practices performed by other governmental institutions.

During the Workshop, various HS classification techniques, especially those relating to foods and chemicals, and typical examples of the recommended HS 2022 amendments were also explained.