(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) The Federal Customs Authority, FCA, headed the UAE delegation at the 42nd regional meeting of Customs Directors General in North Africa, Near and Middle East (MENA), which was held under the chairmanship of Bahrain last week at the headquarters of the World Customs Organisation in Brussels, Belgium.
Khalid A. Al Bustani, the acting Director General of the FCA, siad that the attendance of these meetings reflect the UAE significant role in customs work in the region and the world trade system, emphasising the UAE's keenness to push customs work progress at the Arab level, protect society security and facilitate trade in the countries across the region.
The meeting covered several topics on the agenda, including the acceptance of Palestinian membership in the WCO, the regional technical report of the WCO Capacity Building Directorate, and the report of Abu Dhabi-based Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), which included the draft regional training plan and its distribution among the regional training centers, as well as the WCO elections, the Private Sector Consulting Group (PSCG) and the Jordanian customs department's application for approving Jordan's customs training centre as a regional training center.
The participants, he said, congratulated Palestine on its membership in WCO and MENA region, after Palestine filed the document of its accession to the Customs Cooperation Council Establishment Agreement to be the 180th member in the WCO and the 18th member in MENA region as of 24th March.
Al Bustani expressed the UAE's satisfaction with Palestine's accession to the WCO and MENA region, following a series of efforts and procedures that contributed to this achievement at the local, Arab and international levels. He extended congratulations to the Palestinian government and people on this achievement, indicating that Palestine accession to the WCO and MENA region is a significant move forward in the customs training field as it enhances efforts in the customs work and facilitates trade in the countries across the region.
The member states extended thanks within the meeting to Abu Dhabi-based ROCB for its achievements and efforts made in the last year to communicate with customs departments on training and enhancement of efficiency among staff as well as its contribution to planning for capacity building at the regional level.
The meeting approved the regional training plan prepared by the ROCB for the period 2015-2016, including 15 regional training programmes under the slogan of "Facilitating Trade", taking into consideration the customs role in execution of the World Trade Organisation's Trade Facilitation Agreement and capacity building efforts made by the WCO Mercator Programme.
The member states in MENA region accepted Jordan's application for approval of its customs training centre as the regional training centre, said the acting FCA Director General and Head of the UAE delegation. The approval of this centre, he said, is a significant step forward in the customs training field and a milestone in the path to enhance efficiency of customs staff in the region.
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