On 5 June 2023, on the eve of the WCO-UPU Global Conference in Tokyo, the Prime Minister of Japan, H.E Fumio Kishida, received the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, and the Director General of UPU, Mr. Masahiko Metoki, at his official residence to express his support for the conference and further strengthening of the collaboration between the two organizations.

Prime Minister Kishida appreciated the role and leadership of two organizations in securing and facilitating the trade in small parcels, including postal packages by enhancing collaboration between Customs and Post. He underlined the importance of digitalizing postal data, including senders and destination addresses, and sharing them between Post and Customs to ensure speedy clearance while enhancing control at borders for the protection of society and citizens.

Dr. Mikuriya and Mr. Metoki explained that while the two organizations have been cooperating for over 50 years, the exponential growth of e-commerce made it all the more urgent to get national Customs administrations and Postal Operators to get together to learn each other’s expectations and challenges and explore the way forward for using technology and enhancing networking to modernize the postal supply chain. Prime Minister Kishida wished the conference much success.

Separately, Dr. Mikuriya had a meeting with the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Yoshimasa Hayashi and the Minister of Finance, H.E. Shunichi Suzuki, to discuss the contribution of WCO and Customs to global economic development and security.