The 14th Meeting of the High Level Working Group of the CPLP took place from 7 to 10 May 2019, in Belém in Pará, Brazil. The 2nd Tax Region of the Brazilian Federal Revenue welcomed representatives from the WCO Portuguese-language country-Members that compose the CPLP, namely; Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and East Timor, as well as representatives from the WCO.

The CPLP Customs administrations met for four days of intensive and fruitful activities. Participants exchanged experiences through presentations and analyzed statistical data related to the participation of members in different meetings, working groups and seminars throughout the community. Although geographically distant and with mixed levels of development, the CPLP countries have common challenges and objectives. This has enabled them to set development goals within their Customs Administrations over the next decade.

Working together, the group approved a CPLP Strategic Plan in November 2018.  Eleven  projects were identified, with responsibility divided by country: Authorized Economic Operator and Promotion of Integrity (Angola), Risk Management and Training of Experts and Trainers (Brazil), Time Release Study (Cape Verde), Exchange of Information on Anti-fraud (Guinea Bissau), Post  Clearance Audit (Mozambique), Tariff Nomenclature (HS) in Portuguese and Harmonized System Procedures (Portugal), Promotion of Information Technologies (São Tomé and Principe), and Promotion of Cooperation between Actors in the Customs Clearance Process (Timor-Leste).

These projects are directly linked to existing WCO instruments, which enable Customs administrations to meet the growing challenges of the 21st century. The CPLP will continue cooperative efforts between its members, under the existing and continued support from the WCO, to achieve its strategic plan goals, which they will discuss and review at the next meeting.

For more information about this activity, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org