Vietnam Customs Attends Asia Pacific Customs Conference

Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Tho of the General Department of Vietnam Customs attended the 24th WCO Asia Pacific Regional Heads of Customs Administration Conference in Perth, Australia, from May 28 to 31, 2023.

On the sidelines of the Conference, Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Van Tho connected with General Secretary WCO Dr Kunio Mikuriya. Photo: Nha Trang

This annual conference, held in the member country assuming the WCO vice chairmanship, was moderated by Mr. Michael Outram, Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner and Comptroller-General of Customs, and was attended by heads of customs administration of WCO countries in the Asia Pacific region, the WCO Secretary General, the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO A/P) and the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P).

Customs leaders of WCO Asia Pacific member countries listened to presentations and gave opinions on matters regarding results obtained after the regional liaison meeting in November 2022 raised in reports by Australia Customs in the role of regional vice chairmanship, reports by ROCB A/P and RILO A/P, reports by the Regional Private Sector Group, assessment reports on the implementation of regional strategic plans, reports on regional financial contributions, and reports on plastic scrap control.

The Vietnam Customs delegation delivered a presentation on the implementation plan of the Mekong Dragon Operation - Phase 5, executed from April to November 2023. The operation targets illegal trade and transportation of drugs, precursors and CITES wildlife animals according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The operation is coordinated by Vietnam Customs, China Customs, RILO A/P and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with the participation of members in the region. After four stages of implementation, the Mekong Dragon Operation has achieved many outstanding results, and the members agreed to continue to the fifth phase with a wider scope and audience.

At the conference, Vietnam Customs also introduced the WCO Technology Conference and Exhibition 2023 to be hosted in Hanoi, Vietnam in October 2023. Vietnam Customs invited regional heads of customs administrations and colleagues from WCO member countries in the region to attend this event.

In addition, the Vietnam delegation had bilateral meetings with the Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner, the RILO A/P Director and the ROCB A/P Director. It also met with the General Director of Hong Kong Customs to discuss cooperation plans in the coming time.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum