At the invitation of Mr. Pedro Perez Betancourt, Director General of Cuba Customs, WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended the National Conference on the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in La Habana, Cuba, on 26 March 2015. The Conference was attended by high-level representatives from Customs, from other government agencies related to border management and international trade, and from the business sector.

The Deputy Secretary General delivered a keynote speech on the key role of the WCO and Customs in ensuring a consistent and timely implementation of the TFA. The same day, Mr. Mujica met with the management team of Cuba Customs and, together, they reviewed the progress made in respect of the reform and modernization programme.

On 27 March, the Deputy Secretary General met with Mr. Antonio Carricarte, Cuba’s Vice-Minister of Trade and Foreign Investment. The main topics discussed were the strategic role of Customs to support the implementation of the WTO TFA, as well as the key projects Cuba is implementing to further enhance trade facilitation, such as Single Window and Authorized Economic Operator.

Mr. Mujica also visited the Cuban University of Computer Sciences, which is working very closely with Customs in the development of the IT systems related to Customs work.