Workshops/Meetings（2020）
10 November 2020
The CTI Attended the Virtual Meeting of Heads of the RTC A/P
On 15 October 2020, the CTI attended the 18th Meeting of Heads of the WCO Asia/Pacific Regional Training Center (RTC), which was held in a virtual manner for the first time under the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, instead of the originally planned face-to-face gathering to be hosted by the CTI as the RTC Japan. The meeting was chaired by Mr, Norikazu KURAMOTO, Head of the WCO Asia/Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P). Around 40 participants attended online, including Mr. Taeil KANG, Director of the Capacity Building Directorate of the WCO Secretariat, and Mr. Takashi SATO, Regional Development Manager for A/P region of the same Directorate, as well as the representatives from the ROCB A/P, the WCO Asia/Pacific Vice-Chair Office (i.e. Indonesia) and seven RTCs in China, Fiji, Hong Kong China, India, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.
Given that the most of the WCO’s regional capacity building activities are withheld due to COVID-19 pandemic and in light of the fact that the RTCs are the headquarters of the national training, the meeting agendas focused on the exchange of the respective RTCs’ efforts to continue its national training activities. In this context, Mr. Takashi TSUKADA, Managing Director of the CTI, explained a series of measures being taken to prevent the COVID-19 infection in line with the government guidelines toward resumption of the class-room style training programs. He further explained alternative training practices, such as live online lectures to ensure both interactive communication and effective knowledge delivery, as well as its support for frontline officers’ self-learning efforts through the WCO e-learning platform and outsourced programs, among the others.
The RTC Heads reconfirmed the important role of the national training institutes in human resource development and the necessity of continuous provision of the multi-faceted training programs with innovative efforts, including exploration of the use of online platforms, in order to cope with the unforeseeable COVID-19 impacts in the years to come. The CTI volunteered again to host the next RTC Heads Meeting on condition that the situation so allows.
For more information, please also refer to the pertinent articles on the WCO website at http://www.wcoomd.org/en/media/newsroom/2020/october/heads-of-regional-training-centers-in-a-p-shares-covid-19-pandemic-experiences.aspx and the ROCB website at http://www.rocb-ap.org/article-detail/548/?crmid=3t96ksabsmgs92niq9nkihlqt1.
11 September 2020
Special Lecture by the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, for WCO Scholars in Japan
On 3 September 2020, at the Customs Training Institute in Kashiwa, the WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya gave a special lecture to WCO scholars (9 scholars for the Master’s Degree Program in Public Finance at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and 9 for the Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights at the Aoyama Gakuin University (AGU)), who are sponsored by Customs Cooperation Fund provided by Japan Customs.
The Secretary General’s lecture focused on the challenges faced by Customs under the COVID-19 pandemic as well as on the WCO’s significant role of continuing to facilitate international trade, followed by a question-and-answer session.
13 May 2020
The WCO 80th Fellowship Programme
From 25 February to 6 March 2020, under the WCO (World Customs Organization) 80th Fellowship Programme, the Japan Customs welcomed four French-speaking participants from Burundi, Madagascar, Central African Republic and Tunisia.
During the study trip in Japan, aiming to lead the reform and modernization of their home Customs administrations, the participants deepened their understandings of the international Customs standards through discussion and observation of Japan Customs’ operations at Tokyo Customs, Nagasaki Customs and Customs and Tariff Bureau of the Ministry of Finance.
13 May 2020
Workshop on Trade Facilitation and Risk Management for Malaysian Customs
From 25 to 28 February 2020, the Workshop on Trade Facilitation and Risk Management for Malaysian Customs was held under the activities of customs technical cooperation.
Aiming to enhance the knowledge of risk management procedures by utilizing advance information corresponding to the provisions of the WTO TFA, the 12 customs officials learned the methods and organizational structure of trade facilitation and risk management in Japan Customs through discussions and site visit at Yokohama Customs.
13 May 2020
Workshop on Customs Administration for Africa and Asian countries
From 19 February to 6 March 2020, the Workshop on Customs Administration for Customs in Africa and Middle East was held under the activities of customs technical cooperation.
Aiming to the modernization of each Customs, the 12 customs officials from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe created an action plan to solve the challenges of each country through understanding of the various methods of Japan Customs, and discussions lead by Japanese customs officials.
13 May 2020
Workshop on Customs Administration for Latin American countries
From 21 January to 7 February 2020, the Workshop on Customs Administration for Customs in Latin America was held under the activities of customs technical cooperation.
Aiming to the modernization of each Customs, the 5 customs officials from Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Peru created an action plan to solve the challenges of each country through understanding of the various methods of Japan Customs discussions and site visits at Osaka Customs and Kobe Customs.
25 February 2020
Workshop on Customs surveillance and control for Senegal Customs
From 18 to 20 February 2020, the Workshop on Customs surveillance and control for Senegal Customs was held under the activities of customs technical cooperation.
For the purpose of enhancing Customs surveillance and control capacity, the three participants had lecture and site visit in Osaka Customs and Kobe Customs so as to deepen their knowledge of Japan Customs’ activities such as the method and organizational structure.
