On 25 March 2022, the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, met with the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Ambassadors at WCO Headquarters.

The meeting was convened on the Secretary General’s initiative, with the aim of discussing emerging priorities for Customs and further enhancing cooperation between the WCO and ASEAN Member States to curb trafficking in substandard and counterfeit COVID-19-related goods.

Secretary General Mikuriya highlighted Customs’ role not only in facilitating cross-border flows of legitimate medicines, vaccines and medical devices, but also in seizing counterfeit and substandard COVID-19-related goods. He went on to underscore the increasingly important part played by ASEAN in achieving this balance.

The ASEAN Ambassadors reiterated their Member States’ willingness to maintain close cooperation with the WCO with a view to strengthening controls to detect illicit medicines, vaccines and medical devices.

Secretary General Mikuriya concluded by reaffirming WCO’s commitment to assist the Customs administrations of the region with capacity building in order to support their enforcement efforts.