EDB and WCO Announced Beginning of Co-operation

On Tuesday, Nikita Tolstikov, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Executive Board, and Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

Particularly, the parties agreed to contribute their available resources to enhancing the efficiency of customs administrations in EDB member states, and adopt and apply customs tools and mechanisms developed and recommended by the WCO.

Summary

The World Customs Organisation (WCO) is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1953. Its members are customs administrations from 174 countries. The WCO is a global centre of customs expertise, and plays a leading role in the discussion and development of modern customs systems and procedures. It is particularly noted for its work in areas covering the development of international conventions, instruments and tools on topics such as commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, supply chain security, international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities and combating counterfeiting. The WCO pays special attention to capacity building programmes aimed to assist with customs reforms and modernisation.