At the invitation of Mr. Thomas Winkowsky, Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended the CBP 2014 East Coast Trade Symposium held on 6 and 7 March in Washington DC, United States. The central theme of the meeting was: "Increasing Economic Competitiveness through Global Partnership and Innovation".

The Deputy Secretary General delivered a keynote speech at the Symposium, addressing over 800 leaders from the United States’ private sector. During his presentation, he explained the key role of Customs in contributing to economic competitiveness and the roadmap the WCO will follow to support consistent and effective implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

Seven breakout sessions were held on day two of the event, including a session to discuss and promote the WCO Cargo Targeting System (CTS) looking at the current status of the project, lessons learned from the pilot phase and plans for future roll-outs and features.

During the closing session, Mr. Gil Kerlikowske addressed the Symposium in his capacity as the newly appointed Commissioner of U.S. CBP.