The WCO and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been jointly working on a multi-year project in South Asia for members of SASEC (South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation) namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, in the area of Customs valuation. The project, which runs for three years (July 2013 – June 2016), is funded by ADB and facilitated by both national and WCO experts. The project comprises of a series of sub-regional and national workshops, the objectives - which depend on the priority of the respective administrations - include creating a pool of national trainers, developing a valuation training module and standard operating practices for Customs valuation control and enhancing the cooperation of experts in the sub-region.

The WCO recently participated in the final mission for the Maldives Customs Service under this project.

During the mission, three expert valuation trainers from the Maldives Customs Service presented the newly-completed training module to experts from the WCO Secretariat, the WCO’s Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building and Sri Lanka Customs. The module is based on core WCO valuation training material, combined with local experience. The trainers then conducted a three day workshop for local Customs officials, using the new training material. The workshop was highly successful and demonstrated both the effectiveness of the training materials and the high level of professionalism of the trainers. Further events are planned both for Customs officials and the private sector.

At the end of the workshop, a ceremony was held to launch the training module and also to mark International Customs Day. The ceremony was attended by around 100 people, including the Commissioner General of Maldives Customs Service, Mr. M. Junaid, representatives of other government services and members of the business community.