At the invitation of Mr. Safar Mehdiyev, Chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, in his capacity as Vice-Chair for the WCO Europe region, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the Europe Region Heads of Customs Meeting held online on 20 November 2020.

During the opening of the Meeting, Dr. Mikuriya presented the topics on the Agenda for the upcoming WCO Council Session and expressed his hope, on behalf of all Member administrations, for a Session focusing solely on technical Customs matters with tangible outcomes that would benefit the Organization’s membership as a whole.

The Heads of Customs shared their experiences of and best practices for combating COVID-19, reviewed the WCO regional representation arrangements, and discussed the development of performance measurement systems within the WCO.  They also listened to reports by Europe’s Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) and Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs).  The Meeting concluded with the re-election of Mr. Mehdiyev as Vice-Chair.

The participants expressed their gratitude to the Vice-Chair and Azerbaijan Customs for the efficient organization of the regional Meeting.