Visit to Poland by the WCO Secretary General
21 to 22 September 2009
Report
The WCO Secretary General visited Poland at the invitation of Mr. Jacek Kapica, the Polish Head of Customs.
During the visit Mr. Mikuriya joined Polish Customs in celebrating their Customs Day on 21 September at a ceremony organized in Warsaw which was attended by Polish Minister of Finance, Jan Vincent-Rostowski and other Polish government and foreign visitors, Ukraine’s Director General of Customs, Mr. Anatoliy Makarenko, Belarus’ Director General of Customs, Mr. Aleksandr Shpilevsky, as well as EC Director, Mr. Mirosław Zieliński.
The event was organized to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish Customs administration and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish Customs Service. It was an opportunity to underline Customs’ identity, highlight Customs’ important role to the State and its citizens, and launch the Polish Customs Modernization Programme. As part of the ceremony, the Secretary General handed WCO Certificates of Merit to four Polish Customs officials for their involvement in the implementation of the CITES Convention; environmental protection being the WCO theme for 2009.
Later, the Secretary General met the RILO for Eastern Europe (RILO ECE) team in Warsaw who briefed him on their main activities including further possible development. Mr. Mikuriya recognized RILO ECE’s achievements and the fact that it was good example of a well-functioning RILO. He assured the team of his full support. While visiting the RILO, he also had the opportunity to meet visiting SECI representative, Mr. Petros Petroff, to discuss possibilities for strengthening cooperation between RILO ECE and SECI.
During the second part of his mission, Mr. Mikuriya visited the Eastern border of Poland – the Dorohusk/Jagodzin land border crossing point with Ukraine and the Kuźnica Białostocka/Bruzgi land border crossing point with Belarus. The Secretary General was also shown the infrastructure at four other border crossing points to enable him to assess the commercial traffic situation.
The visit to the border region ended with a meeting in Kuźnica where the Secretary General witnessed the signing of a declaration between the Customs Directors General of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus on their willingness to continue and increase cooperation among one another. The declaration is intended to increase enforcement efficiency and facilitate legitimate trade whilst acting as a platform for good relations and as a basis for further tangible activities between the Ukraine, Belarus and Polish Customs administrations.