ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 03rd Jul, 2018) The UAE participated in the meetings of the 132nd World Customs Organisation, WCO, Council, which took place during the end of June over three days at the WCO’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
The UAE delegation was led by Mohamed Jumaa Busaiba, Director-General of the Federal Customs Authority, and included Mohammed Mir Al Sarrah, Director of the Department of Marine Ports and Customs of Sharjah, Saud Salem Al Aqroubi, Director of International Relations, and Fatima Mohammed Aqeel Abbasi, Executive Director of International Relations at the Authority.
Busaiba held bilateral meetings with the heads of other delegations, including from Australia, China, the United States, US, Japan and Italy, to discuss their bilateral customs ties and the possibilities of exchanging customs expertise and reinforcing their bilateral cooperation.
Busaiba said that the meetings were important opportunities to explore the latest international developments related to customs while pointing out that the UAE is keen to fulfil its international economic role in improving and advancing customs work, to create a safe community and achieve fair trade.
He added that the meetings of the 132th session of the WCO Council discussed key issues while the 48th regional meeting of customs directors-general from North Africa and the middle East, which was held on the sidelines of the council, also discussed many important issues, such as the process of implementing the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Agreement, the global cooperation between customs and tax authorities, the role of customs in combatting illegal finance, measuring performance, and reviewing the amended Kyoto Agreement and the WCO’s future strategy.
The council addressed a range of topics listed on its agenda, including the report of Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary-General of the WCO, on measuring the organisation’s performance, its strategy and its cooperation with other international organisations, as well as the creation of technical committees that will be responsible for coordination, customs assessments and rules of origin.
Busaiba called on WCO’s member countries to priorities electronic trade and the development of customs tools that comply with the latest developments, as well as to establish electronic trade standards through the Customs Cooperation Council.
At the end of the meetings, the WCO’s members re-elected the Japanese candidate, Mikuriya, as the organisation’s secretary-general, and Enrique Cannon, President of the Customs Cooperation Council, as the council’s new president.
