WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15 to 18 December 2015.
On 15 December 2015 in the margins of the Ministerial Conference, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the WCO and TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) by Secretary General Mikuriya and TMEA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frank Matsaert.
The MOU establishes a framework for cooperation between the WCO and TMEA in areas of common interest, such as implementation support for the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement through the WCO’s Mercator Programme, including Single Window, Authorized Economic Operator and Time Release Study.
This Memorandum aims to enhance the economic development of recipient countries by assisting their Customs administrations with their capacity building and their developmental and modernization endeavours.
Secretary General Mikuriya and CEO Matsaert emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two Organizations based on this MOU, and agreed to work on the development and delivery of possible joint projects.