On Wednesday, February 15, the WCO Vice-Chair for the Americas and the Caribbean Region launched the First Forum of the Regional Network of Laboratories through a regional webinar. The first topic addressed was "Management of Regional Laboratories".

Ms. Martha Garamendi, Vice-Chair for the Americas and the Caribbean Region and Mr. Daniel Cardozo, Technical Officer representing the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate were in charge of the opening remarks.

The webinar was attended by more than 50 participants from 20 Customs Administrations from the region.

Establishing a Regional Laboratory Network is an initiative framed in the Strategic Plan of the current Vice-Chair office, which aims at promoting a space for the exchange of information, good practices and interact with experts and colleagues from the region, fostering the application of quality standards in the region.  

The Regional Laboratory Network was created by the Regional Vice-Chair and the Forum will be hosted in the learning platform of the Customs Administration of Peru (SUNAT). The Regional Laboratory Network will be led by Eng. Wellinton Tello, Head of the Central Laboratory of SUNAT, accompanied by the Regional Laboratories of Mexico, Peru and the Customs Laboratory of Colombia which will lead future virtual forums within the Regional Laboratory Network.