At the invitation of Mr. Galo Molina, President of ALACAT, and Mr. Enrique Lacalle, President of the International Logistics and Material Handling Exhibition of Barcelona, WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended the XXXIII International Congress of ALACAT, which was held in Barcelona, Spain, from 7 to 9 June 2016.

The Congress was attended by over 200 freight forwarders and logistics operators from Latin America, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries, as well as several international organizations from the private and public sectors.

The agenda of the Congress featured several Customs-related topics, including the vision of international organizations on trade facilitation, Customs’ contribution to global competitiveness, and collaborative strategies in the private sector and their response to Customs.

Deputy Secretary General Mujica participated in two panel discussions where he emphasized the key role of Customs to contribute to economic competitiveness and to the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). He presented the main WCO instruments and tools designed to support Customs to enhance economic competitiveness and to implement the TFA in an effective and consistent manner. Mr. Mujica also highlighted the importance of Customs-business cooperation to achieve these objectives.

During his visit to Barcelona, Mr. Mujica also held working meetings with Ms. Pilar Jurado, the Director General of Spanish Customs, and her management team. He also met with senior representatives of the private sector of Catalonia and visited the Port of Barcelona.