Five Revenue Authorities of East Africa, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, gathered in Nairobi, Kenya on 6 December 2018 for the second Regional Joint Coordinating Committee (RJCC) meeting of their “Project on Capacity Development for Trade Facilitation and Border Control in East Africa”.

This Project is implemented by the five East African Community (EAC) Partner States with support jointly provided by the WCO and JICA and aims at improving the efficiency of border procedures and enhancing border control.  Through this Project, the five East African Revenue Authorities have been working together on (1) effective One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) operation, and (2) Customs capacity building on three areas, namely (i) risk management (RM), (ii) post clearance audit (PCA), and (iii) Program Global Shield (PGS).

The meeting was hosted by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and was attended by the Commissioners General, Commissioners Customs and other senior officials from the Revenue Authorities of EAC Partner States, EAC Secretariat, WCO, JICA and Japan Customs.  The RJCC reviewed progress made in the last six month that included the Master Trainer Program (MTP) on Post Clearance Audit (PCA) and activities to further enhance risk management capacity.   The RJCC welcomed the reported progress of work and expressed their appreciation to the WCO and JICA for the quality support offered. 

The WCO informed the RJCC on the recently announced theme of 2019, “SMART Borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport”.  This theme aligns with the objectives of Trade Facilitation and Border Control Project, complemented by another Grand Aid Project offered by JICA.   It is expected that the East African Revenue Authorities will be the lead in implementing “SMART Borders.” 

At the end of the meeting, awards were given to the “Most Active Master Trainers” of the year 2018 to commemorate their excellent contribution to sustainable capacity building by sharing their knowledge and experience with their colleagues within the region.

The WCO and JICA reaffirmed their commitment and support for the Project through the WCO/JICA Joint Project towards more sustainable economic and social prosperities in the region.

For more information on this activity and the WCO/JICA Joint Project, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org