WCO Asia Pacific Vice-Chair attended the 86th Session of Policy Commission on 20 – 22 June 2022 in WCO Headquarter, Brussel, Belgium. This meeting was chaired by Mr. Ahmed Al Khalifa (Bahrain) and attended in-person by Mr. Askolani, Director General of Indonesia Customs as a WCO Asia Pacific Vice Chair, Ms. Anita Iskandar (Chief of Executive) and Mr. Fitra Krisdianto (Chief of Operations).
During the three days meeting, the Policy Commission discussed several topics, started with the report delivered by WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya related activities undertaken by the Secretariat to implement the Strategic Plan during financial year 2021/2022. Besides the difficult time during the pandemic, the WCO Secretariat exceeded several targets in the Strategic Objectives. It is continued with COVID-19 Action Plan, the update on the harmonization and reporting of WCO work programs, and extension of the mandate of the working group on performance measurement. Green Customs and WCO Data Strategy also becoming the main discussion points of the Policy Commission that need further measures.
Another important agenda discussed during the meeting is the completing of the WCO Strategic Plan 2022-2025. After long processes conducted, including the 6 regional consultations chaired by the WCO Deputy Secretary General, the WCO Secretariat completed the document. The Policy Commission thanked the WCO Secretariat for the great effort and expressed their strong commitments to the implementation of the Strategic Plan. In the last day of the meeting, the discussion closed by the dialogue with the WCO Private Sector Consultative Group.
The meeting went very well and resulted fruitful discussions. Members expressed their gratitude to the Chairperson for his leadership, and the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, as well as the officers of the Secretariat, for the excellent organization of the meeting despite the ongoing global pandemic.
