At the request of the Ecole des Douanes belges [Belgian Customs School], and as part of their nine months of training in Belgium, a group of 25 trainees from various French-speaking African countries visited WCO Headquarters on 2 and 3 December 2015.
The trainees were accorded a guided tour of Secretariat premises, in addition to a range of presentations that were made by Secretariat officials. The presentations covered a number of topics of interest to future managers in the beneficiary administrations, and were illustrated by the following WCO tools and instruments:
- The WCO and its Strategic Plan;
- Trade facilitation and Customs procedures (WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) and WCO Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC));
- Customs in the 21st Century and its building blocks;
- Programme and challenges of Customs reform and of WCO capacity building, particularly in Africa;
- Revenue Package, focusing on Customs valuation;
- Enforcement and supply chain security;
- E-Learning Programme; and
- Expert accreditation.
The diverse presentations elicited great interest among the trainees, thus enriching the discussions and responsiveness of the group as a whole.
At the end of their visit, the trainees expressed their utmost satisfaction with what they had learned about the WCO’s role, its mission, and the tools developed by it. They thanked the Secretariat for organizing this extremely rewarding visit.