At the invitation of Mr. Ruslan Davydov, First Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, acting in his capacity as Vice-Chair of the WCO Europe region, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the Europe Region Heads of Customs Conference in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, on 25 and 26 April 2019.
Issues discussed during the Conference included transit system compatibility in the Europe region, Performance Measurement, E-Commerce and the draft WCO Strategic Plan. Strong support was also expressed for including Integrity and Digitalization in the list of WCO priorities.
In addition, the Heads of the WCO regional bodies updated the Conference on their activities over the past year, with delegates being informed about the appointment of a new Head of the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) in Baku.
The participants as a whole appreciated the excellent organization of the Conference and the warm hospitality extended by Russian Federation Customs.