The World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretariat organized a National Workshop on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) for Sri Lanka Customs in Colombo, from 8 to 12 May 2023. The Workshop, funded by the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF/Japan), was a follow-up to a PCA Training Workshop conducted in December 2018.

The Director General of Sri Lanka Customs, Mr. P.B.S.C. Nonis, officially opened the Workshop and gave an insightful speech, highlighting the importance of PCA for trade facilitation and revenue collection and warmly welcoming the facilitators. He also expressed his deep appreciation to the WCO Secretariat and to the CCF/Japan for their ongoing support for capacity building.

The Workshop was attended by 18 participants from the Post-Clearance Audit Department of Sri Lanka Customs, who showed a high level of interest and eagerness to learn. The Workshop covered a range of topics related to PCA, including the compliance approach, risk management, Customs valuation control, risk-based compliance management and the audit cycle. The Workshop included a role-play case study of an actual audit scenario, where participants actively engaged with the material.

The facilitators made an effort to support participants in further developing their PCA processes through lively discussions and hands-on exercises. The Workshop was structured to be practical, providing participants with solutions that are fully applicable to their work environment. The successful completion of the Workshop is expected to contribute significantly to the continued improvement of the well-developed PCA system already implemented within Sri Lanka Customs, and to have a positive impact on the Administration’s PCA operations.