Under the auspices of the WCO INAMA project (funded by the CITES Secretariat, GiZ, Sweden and the US Department of State) an Institutional Assessment Workshop on Enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wildlife fauna and flora (CITES) was held in Lilongwe (Malawi). This workshop was hosted by the Malawi Revenue Authority from 14 to 18 September 2015. It was opened by Ms Roza Mbilizi, the Acting Commissioner General of the Malawi Revenue Authority and attended by delegates from the Customs Administrations of Angola, Gambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia.
During this workshop the participants, through a participatory approach, piloted and validated the Institutional Assessment Tool developed under the WCO INAMA project. This Tool aims to support Customs administrations in taking a comprehensive approach to build their front-line capacity in fighting the smuggling of CITES controlled goods and other contraband. The workshop was funded by the US Department of State with the support of Sweden.