The Committee of Experts which reports to the Conference of Directors General of Customs in the WCO West and Central Africa (WCA) region held its 11^th meeting in Lome, Togo from 18^th-20^th November 2013.

19 out of the 23 regional Member Administrations participated in the meeting jointly with respective representatives of the Regional Vice Chair, the WCO Secretariat, the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), Regional Training Centers (RTCs) and the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs).

The three-day’s meeting allowed the Experts to assess the recommendations from several regional meetings before, including the 4^th Workshop of WCA Training and Human Resource Managers. Other discussions focused on the status of financial contributions of Member Administrations to the WCA regional fund and a regional assistance initiative proposed for the Customs Administrations of the Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau. The WCO Secretariat reported on progress made related to interventions of private Inspection Companies in Customs operations and related to regional capacity building overall.

At the end of the meeting the Committee of Experts was also able to propose draft recommendations for the upcoming 19^th Regional Conference of Directors General to be held in Yaounde, Cameroun from 10^th-14^th March 2014.