Bolivia is one of the beneficiaries of the Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by the WCO. Following an initial scoping mission in June by WCO experts to La Paz, the GTFP launching event took place on 27 September 2019 in Bolivia.
This event coincided with the establishment and first meeting of the National Programme Steering Committee, comprising representatives from the Customs Administration (CA) of Bolivia, SECO and the WCO, as well as from the public and private sectors involved in trade facilitation and customs modernization in Bolivia. The Committee validated the work plan for the following three years that has been previously agreed between the WCO and the Aduana Nacional de Bolivia (ANB) as the main counterparty and direct beneficiary of the Programme.
The overarching framework for cooperation has been set in a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding also signed on the same day by the ANB, SECO and the WCO. With the governance structure in place and the plan of activities approved, the WCO experts will now start delivering capacity building support to the ANB on trade facilitation measures, in order to increase compliance with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention.
Besides the areas identified as being a priority, such as risk management and advanced rulings, the ANB will also benefit from a number of national and regional workshops on areas pertaining to organizational development, strategic planning, project management, and leadership and management development guidance for top executives, senior and middle management. This aims at providing the ANB with the right tools so that the Administration can continue on the path of reform and modernization and guarantee the sustainability of changes supported by the programme after its completion.
For more information on the GTFP please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org