At the invitation of the Mexican Revenue Authority, Vice-Chair of the Americas and the Caribbean Region, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the 18th Regional Conference of Customs Directors General for the Americas and the Caribbean Region (RCCDG), held in Puerto Natales, Chile, on 13 and 14 April 2015. The meeting was hosted by Mr. Gonzalo Pereira, Director General of Chile Customs, and was chaired by Ms. Teresa Medina of the Mexican Revenue Service.
Addressing participants by video, Chile's Minister of Finance, Mr. Alberto Arenas, underlined the importance of Customs in trade facilitation, revenue collection and protection of society. The Governor of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, Mr. Jorge Flies, welcomed delegates to the southernmost part of Chile and the Americas.
Secretary General Mikuriya briefed the Conference participants on current priorities of the WCO, based on its Strategic Plan, including the WCO Mercator Programme for implementing the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation, Coordinated Border Management (CBM), the revision of the SAFE Framework of Standards, and the Security Programme to assist in combating terrorism. He also spoke about performance measurement, one of the outcomes of the December 2014 Policy Commission session, explaining the subsequent work carried out on developing performance indicators, for which the Conference expressed its support.
The Conference discussed a wide range of topics, including CBM, information-sharing tools and best practices for managing commercial fraud in Customs, as well as the two regional strategies - on Authorized Economic Operator and Risk Management.
After a lengthy discussion, the Directors General adopted the Patagonia Resolution, involving the establishment of a working group to develop the regional strategic planning proposal, including a capacity building regional strategic plan, with indicators and an appropriate framework of governance.
The Conference also accepted the offer of Uruguay to host the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), and thanked Argentina for having hosted the ROCB for the past eight years.
The Directors General approved the following Members to serve on the Policy Commission for the Region: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, United States and the Vice-Chair Mexico. The Finance Committee members for the Region for the next year will be: Canada, Dominican Republic, Paraguay and the United States. Brazil and Chile will continue as the representatives on the Audit Committee. The Conference also welcomed and accepted the offer of Bolivia to host the RCCDG meeting in 2016 and Cuba for 2017.
All the participants expressed their appreciation for Chile Customs' warm hospitality and excellent organization of the Conference.
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Cover Photo:
From right to left: Mr. Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, Ms. Teresa Medina of the Mexican Revenue Service, Chair of the Conference, Mr. Jorge Flies, Governor of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, and Mr. Gonzalo Pereira, Head of Chile Customs.