The WCO participates in the 18th Meeting of the CPLP RKC Working Group

The Secretariat of the World Customs Organization (WCO) physically participated in the 18th Meeting of the Working Group on the Revised Kyoto Convention of the Community of Portuguese Official Languages Countries (CPLP), held from 20 to 23 March 2023, in São Paulo-Brazil.

The meeting was chaired by the Undersecretary of Customs Administration of the Federal Revenue of Brazil, Mr. Jackson Aluir CORBARI, who noted the importance of the event for Customs modernization. He stressed the possibility of examining the implementation of a future mutual recognition agreement between the members of the Community, as well as the importance to maintain the language project within the WCO and the active participation of all in the work of the committees.

The opening ceremony also saw the intervention of the Coordinator of the RKC Working Group, who highlighted the efforts and progress made in this area, including the finalization of the translation of the body of the convention and its annexes into Portuguese and their publication on the WCO website since September 2022.

Six of the nine CPLP countries were present, namely Angola, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor. They shared their experiences in several areas of Customs reform and modernization, including the implementation of the Revised Kyoto Convention, the development of a Single Window environment, emergency management, and Customs control. Equatorial Guinea shared the experience its integration into the CPLP and the WCO.

The WCO Secretariat briefed delegates on the WCO Guide on the Implementation of AEO Programmes and the Validation of AEO Procedures, given the importance of this Programme for AEO Member Countries.

Participants also took the opportunity to visit and have hands-on experiences of operations at Guarulhos International Airport and the Port of Santos.

At the end of the meeting, participants were unanimous on the need to strengthen outreach within their administrations, the availability on the WCO website of the full version of the revised Kyoto Convention, with a view to improving Customs performance within countries of the Portuguese-speaking Community.

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