From June 27 to 29, the annual meeting of the WCO Council was held at the WCO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. It is the most important conference of the year for the 183 WCO member customs administrations.
According to Vietnam Customs, Nguyen Van Can, Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, led the delegation to attend the conference. On the side-lines of the WCO Council’s meeting, on June 28, Can held a bilateral meeting with US Customs and Border Protection, led by its Deputy Commissioner Robert E. Perez.
At the meeting, the two parties informed each other of the completion of the internal procedures in preparation for the signing of a government-level agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in the customs field between the senior leaders of the two sides in the coming time.
In implementing this agreement, the two sides agreed to focus on fields of mutual concern, including exchanging intelligence and sharing customs data, strengthening cooperation in customs control, fighting against transnational crimes, smuggling and trade frauds, and promoting the capacity of customs officers in professional fields.
In particular, with the experience of successfully implementing the national single window, the US customs are willing to share experiences with Vietnam. The two sides agreed to actively prepare for effective implementation after the signing of the agreement.
