At the invitation of the Director General of Customs, VAT and Excise, Ministry of Finance and Planning, State of Palestine, the WCO undertook an evaluation of the delivery of tailor-made track of the Mercator Programme in Palestine. The WCO Mercator Programme is designed to support the uniform implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), using the WCO instruments and tools.  Its foundations are rooted in the WCO’s capacity building approach of needs assessment, strategic planning and monitoring / evaluation.   Since acceding to the WCO in 2015, the Palestinian Customs authority has been an avid user of WCO instruments and tools, taking advantage of WCO support in valuation / classification, risk management, organizational development and strategic planning.  Much of this support has been delivered in close collaboration with the WCO Regional Training Centre in Amman, Jordan.  The evaluation took note of the Ministerial endorsement of a facilitation- and partnership-oriented strategic plan, its constructive relationship with the Palestinian private sector and its electronic connections to other Palestinian state agencies and neighboring Customs administrations.  This mission will serve as the foundations for future engagements with the Palestinian Customs authority under the tailor-made track of the Mercator Programme.

The WCO wishes to express its sincere thanks to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for the extensive support provided to Palestine and to the Customs Department, Ministry of Finance of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for their extensive logistical and technical support.