Through the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Trade Facilitation Capacity Building Programme supported by the United Kingdom, the WCO conducted a mission to the Gambia from 7 to 11 March 2022 to further strengthen capacity within GRA and other border agencies to implement an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme and Coordinated Border Management (CBM) in the Gambia.
The mission that included experts from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Uganda Revenue Authority was a consolidation further to virtual capacity building support provided to the GRA since September 2021. A series of virtual sessions was held on a weekly basis to enhance the knowledge of GRA staff on the concepts of AEO and CBM, using tools developed by the WCO and best practice approaches. A key component of the virtual engagement was the sharing of experiences from other WCO members, including the Burundi Customs Administration, South African Revenue Service, and US Customs and Border Protection #.
The mission commenced with a visit to the Gambia seaport, the land border in Admadallia between Senegal and the Gambia, focus group meetings with different GRA teams including the ASYCUDA World implementation team, and an AEO-CBM joint workshop for government and private sector stakeholders.
The joint workshop was attended by over 40 participants, representing other border agencies, brokers, importers, and exporters. The workshop was opened by the Acting Commissioner General of GRA Mr. Alieu Bittaye. In his opening remarks Mr. Battaye said: “We are very thankful to the WCO for its continuous support to GRA.” He added: “We also highly appreciate the assistance provided by the UK government by financing this programme. We assure the WCO and the UK government that we will put this support to the best use to streamline our procedures and processes to facilitate trade”.
The WCO will continue supporting the Gambia during the next phase of the HMRC programme (2022-2025), which was launched as “Accelerating Trade Facilitation” on Friday 4 March 2022.
For more information on the Programme, please see here, or contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.