AKIPRESS.COM - The virtual meeting of the 135th/136th Sessions of the WCO Council was held on June 25 with the attendance of the heads of customs administrations of 183 countries. The notable feature of this meeting was that the delegations submitted their proposals in advance for discussion, Montsame reported. 

Kunio Mikuriyo, Secretary General of the WCO, said “This meeting sets out a new principle for WCO member states. The World Trade Organization, the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the United Nations are focusing on the smooth flow of trade amid COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation in these difficult times and the WCO will develop projects and programs to focus on capacity building in order to prevent risks.”

The Council adopted the corrigendum amendments to the 2022 version of the Harmonized System and recommendations made by the 103rd session of the WCO Finance Committee. Moreover, it was decided to extend the term of office of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the WCO Assembly, Finance and Audit Committee until December 2020.

At the end of the conference, the Deputy Chairperson of the Regional Office for Capacity Building of the WCO was elected in accordance with the agenda and the WCO approved the meeting plan for the fiscal year of 2020/2021. Thus, the 135th/136th session of the WCO was successfully convened and the 137th session was scheduled to be held in December this year.