The WCO held an Information Session on Supporting Implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation, in the WTO Headquarters in Geneva on 16 June 2014. This half-day event was organized with the objective of familiarizing WTO and international organization delegates based in Geneva with the WCO and its work related to implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF). The meeting attracted over 80 delegates from Member and Observer countries as well as international organizations who contributed actively to the discussions.

The Information session, which was moderated by the Chairperson of the WCO Working Group on the ATF, Ms. Gugu Dlamini Zwane from the Swaziland Revenue Authority, provided an overview of the work carried out so far and the plans ahead as well as the technical assistance and capacity building methodology and deliverables.

In his address to the meeting, the WTO Director General Mr. Roberto Azevêdo congratulated the WCO for establishing its Working Group on the ATF and stressed that the WTO Secretariat will do all it can to support its work. He also took the opportunity to welcome the WCO Dublin Resolution which was issued in the days after the Bali Ministerial and which underscored the WCO commitment to the efficient implementation of the ATF. Mr. Azevêdo added that the WTO was counting on the WCO to play a key role in assisting Customs in this endeavor.

The WCO Secretary General Mr. Kunio Mikuriya thanked the WTO for hosting the event and emphasized the history of WCO/WTO cooperation and the WCO’s readiness to support the WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation in the same manner as it supports the Agreement on Customs Valuation and the Agreement on Rules of Origin.

Mr. Mikuriya used this opportunity to announce the launching of a new Trade Facilitation programme in close coordination with the WTO. He said that it would be open to all WCO Members, offering coherency, continuity, transparency and compatibility.