The WCO National Workshop for Lao Customs on border enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) was held in Vientiane, Laos from 12 to 16 November 2018, under the sponsorship of Japanese Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF/Japan). A total of 12 Lao Customs officers participated in the Workshop and resource speakers from the Asia/Pacific WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) and Japan Customs participated in the Workshop to share their knowledge and practices with the participants and to facilitate the discussions.
To further improve IPR enforcement, Lao Customs has showed its strong commitment to revise its IPR administrative regulation and participants intensively discussed the details of the draft regulation. In parallel, participants examined the organizational setting required to effectively implement IPR laws and regulations within Customs administration. Participants also exchanged opinions with Right Holders to address existing challenges and identified possible solutions to improve the cooperation between Customs and Right Holders.
The Workshop was concluded with the strong determination of the Lao Customs to continuously work towards enhanced IPR border enforcement in close cooperation with Right Holders.