Report

At the invitation of Director General Chorfi of Morocco Customs in his capacity as Vice-Chair, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in the MENA (North of Africa, Near and Middle East) regional meeting held at the Arab League Headquarters in Cairo on 9 January 2012.

Fourteen out of the 17 Members of the region were represented at a very senior level, including 11 Directors General of Customs. They charted the way forward in respect of the region’s activities, including the follow-up of the discussions at the recent WCO Policy Commission session.

A decision was taken to send a regional Attaché, funded by the region, to the WCO Secretariat, and the selection process will commence very shortly.

In addition, a regional working group will draw up a training plan for the region, to include all seminars and workshops open to the Members.

With regard to Globally Networked Customs, the meeting set up a working group to study the pilot project proposed by Jordan to enhance exchange of information at the regional level. Programme Global Shield also attracted interest and gave rise to discussion.

Finally, delegates were informed about and welcomed the bilateral assistance and the WCO support already provided, or being planned, for Customs administrations in the region which had experienced upheaval and political instability in the past year and which now faced considerable challenges.