The Ambassadors in Brussels of the five Pacific Alliance Members (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico (represented by the Economic Attaché)) held discussions with the WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya and the Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica on 14 June 2013.

The Pacific Alliance is an initiative for regional integration in Latin America aimed at advancing free movement of goods, services, capital and people among its Member countries.

One of the main areas where substantial progress has been achieved is trade integration, where Pacific Alliance Members are eliminating Customs duties on over 90% of goods traded within the area, with a commitment to progressively eliminate duties on all other goods over a period of three to seven years.

Trade facilitation also plays a key role in the Alliance and the main topics included in the negotiations in this regard are the establishment of electronic　certification of origin, coordination of Single Window schemes, the alignment of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes with a view to achieving intraregional Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs), and the signing of a general agreement on Customs cooperation.

Secretary General Mikuriya stated that the WCO is following the developments in the Pacific Alliance negotiations with great interest, and he highlighted the key role of Customs in this process, especially in the implementation phase.

The Ambassadors expressed their appreciation for the contribution the WCO is making to the economic integration process and reaffirmed their interest in strengthening the cooperation with the WCO in order to contribute to the successful implementation of the Pacific Alliance agreement.