From August 2013 to November 2014, the WCO-WACAM project, funded by Sweden, endeavored to build the stakeholder engagement and communication capacities of the Cape Verdean Customs Administration (CVCA). The support enabled CVCA to develop a stakeholder engagement strategy, a communication strategy and communication products as well as build a critical mass of Customs officers throughout the archipelago with the necessary competencies (knowledge, skills and attitude) to lead successful consultations and carry out fruitful negotiations with partners.

Building on the above-mentioned results and by April 2015, CVCA had identified the establishment of a National Trade Facilitation Committee as the ideal platform to apply its acquired stakeholder engagement competencies. Indeed, as prescribed by Article 23.2 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), Member States are required to establish (and/or maintain) a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) to facilitate the coordination and implementation of the Agreement at the national level.

In line with the principles laid out by the WCO Mercator Programme, the WCO-WACAM Project, is, hence, pleased to announce that its recent support mission (20-24 July 2015) to Praia enabled Cape Verde to establish its National Committee for Trade Facilitation. Members of the NCTF include Customs as Chair of the NCTF, the Ministry of Tourism and Investments (under which the Directorate General of Industry and Trade is situated) as Vice Chair, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce, some individual brokers as well as ex- and importers, the port and airport authorities (semi-privatized in Cape Verde), a part of the National Police and other agencies involved in the implementation of the Agreement. The NCTF Secretariat will be a shared secretariat with other trade-related committees under an inter-governmental national Commission on Trade Facilitation, and will be supported by Customs.

During this first working session, the NCTF Members agreed on the Terms of Reference of the NCTF and elaborated action plans for 2 critical areas of work, namely the development of a roadmap for the implementation of the WTO TFA on national level and the national categorization process of its articles.

The first working session was met with great enthusiasm by the NCTF Members. Mr. Almicar Aristides Monteiro, Director General Industry and Trade, said that "the first session was successful as it allowed the Committee to establish an enabling working environment and to develop concrete outputs, which lay down the basis for the successful implementation of the WTO TFA". On his side, Mr. Carlos Semedo, Director General Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, defined this first session as a "an important step to bring international trade to the forefront of the national agenda". Mr. Guntar Campos, Customs Director General, added that his administration was pleased that all relevant stakeholders for the implementation of the TFA had seized this opportunity of the first NCTF meeting to start an even enhanced cooperation on trade facilitation.

The NCTF Members expressed their gratitude to the WCO for its support and their wish to benefit from further support under the WCO-WACAM Project related to the coordination and implementation of the WTO TFA, which the WCO will be able to provide as agreed with the Cape Verdean Customs Administration.

For more information on the WACAM project, please contact the WACAM Project Manager Mr. Richard Chopra (richard.chopra@wcoomd.org), as well as on the WCO Mercator Programme and related WCO instruments and tools, Ms. Heike Barczyk, WCO Deputy Director Compliance and Facilitation (heike.barczyk@wcoomd.org).