Viet Nam Customs’ participation in the conference continued to affirm its role, responsibility, and active engagement in regional and international customs cooperation mechanisms.
The Asia-Pacific Regional Heads of Customs Administrations Conference is the most important regional customs meeting, held annually in the member economy serving as Regional Vice-Chair. This year’s conference was attended by WCO Secretary General Ian Saunders.
At the conference, Directors General discussed and approved a number of key issues related to the future direction of regional customs cooperation. Major topics included WCO priorities; an assessment of the implementation of the Regional Strategic Plan for 2024–2026; discussions about and approval of the Regional Strategy for 2026–2028; and regional cooperation activities in capacity building, enforcement, and engagement with the private sector.
In addition to participating in discussions under the conference agenda, Viet Nam Customs presented a report on the implementation of the priority area titled “Customs adaptability and transformation in response to international trade challenges” among regional members. This is one of four priority areas under the Regional Strategic Plan for 2024–2026 and 2026–2028, for which Viet Nam Customs and the Australian Border Force serve as co-coordinators.
In addition to its role as co-coordinator of one of the Regional Strategic Plan’s priority areas, Viet Nam Customs is also a member of the regional working group responsible for developing the Regional Strategic Plan, while actively participating in WCO and regional operational activities and enforcement campaigns.
Notably, Viet Nam Customs has taken an active role in Operation Mekong Dragon, which focuses on combating drug trafficking and the illegal trade of wildlife and plants. The operation was jointly initiated by Viet Nam Customs and China Customs and has been implemented since 2018 with the participation of customs administrations and law enforcement agencies from 24 regional members.
Operation Mekong Dragon has been recognised as an effective and exemplary regional law enforcement cooperation model, helping to affirm the important role of multilateral coordination mechanisms in detecting, preventing, and dismantling transnational smuggling networks.
On the sidelines of the conference, Deputy Director General of Viet Nam Customs Au Anh Tuan also held bilateral meetings and exchanges with the WCO Secretary General and heads of customs administrations from other countries.
The meetings reaffirmed Viet Nam Customs’ commitment to making active contributions to cooperation activities within the Asia-Pacific region and the WCO, while also promoting cooperative relations between Viet Nam Customs and customs authorities across the region.
