At the invitation of Mr. Fermín Cuza, International President of the World Business Alliance for Secure Commerce (BASC), WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended the VI World BASC International Congress held on 2 and 3 October 2014 in Washington D.C. The central theme of the meeting was: "Business and Government Working Together: The Road to Global Prosperity".
The Deputy Secretary General delivered a keynote speech, providing background information about the WCO and explaining the key role of Customs in contributing to economic competitiveness, including the importance of the SAFE Framework of Standards and the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes. Mr. Mujica also presented the roadmap the WCO will follow to support consistent and effective implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The Congress programme included presentations by high-level officers from the US Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the US Immigration and Enforcement Agency (ICE), as well as leaders from the public and private sectors in the Americas region. On the second day of the event, a panel session was held on AEO, with participation of the Director General of Bolivia Customs and the heads of the AEO programmes of Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico.
During his mission to Washington Mr. Mujica also met with Mr. Antoni Estevadeordal, Manager of the Integration and Trade Sector at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to review the various projects underway involving the WCO and the IDB, with a view to further enhancing the cooperation between the two Organizations.
