Mr. J. Würtenberger, Director General of German Customs, visited the WCO on Monday 4 November 2013 to discuss a range of topics with Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya. Emphasizing the high quality of the WCO’s technical assistance and capacity building programmes, Mr. Würtenberger was pleased to announce that Germany would donate funding and resources for a WCO/German Programme to benefit the countries of Eastern Europe (subject to final approval by the German government) and would make a second donation for a project to combat wildlife trafficking in Africa.

In addition, given Germany’s track record of providing funding for the development of the Customs Enforcement Network (CEN), Mr. Würtenberger said Germany would sponsor a programme to train Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) officers in the use of the CEN.  

The Secretary General warmly welcomed the initiatives presented by Mr. Würtenberger and looked forward to working with German Customs to deliver successful programmes.

During a wide-ranging discussion, the Secretary General and the Director General exchanged views on the WCO’s role in terms of interacting with other international organizations, the WCO’s financial situation and the need for Member support for the various activities currently undertaken by the Organization. As regards the last issue, Mr. Würtenberger said Germany would promote the use of the Interface Public-Members (IPM) in conjunction with regional intellectual property rights (IPR) systems.

Germany is a strong supporter of the WCO, both by way of making resources available and posting Technical Attachés to WCO Headquarters. The Secretary General expressed his appreciation to Germany’s ongoing commitment and looked forward to its continued support in the future.