The Australian Border Force (ABF) hosted government and industry participants in Sydney for part 2 of the annual Australian Trusted Trader (ATT) Symposium in June 2022, following the virtual session held in March.

At the first in-person ATT Symposium since 2019, participants came together to recognise and celebrate the program's collaborative approach to facilitating legitimate trade, strengthening supply chain security and detecting illicit trade activity.

On 25 June 2022, the Vice Chair Secretariat held bilateral meeting between Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) of Indonesia and Australia Border Force (ABF) in the WCO Headquarters, Brussel, Belgium shortly after the 139th/140th Session of the WCO Council ended. This meeting aimed to hand over the baton of Vice Chairmanship from Indonesia as a WCO A/P Vice Chair 2020 – 2022 to Australia as the new appointed Vice Chair for the next period of 2022 – 2024. The ceremony symbolized by the handover of WCO Asia Pacific’ flag, Asia Pacific Regional Strategic Plan 2022 – 2024 document, and also token of appreciation.

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).

23rd Regional Head of Customs Administration (RHCA) Conference 18-19 May 2022 organizing by Indonesia Customs as the WCO Asia Pacific Vice-chair was held in Nusa Dua, Bali, in hybrid format, allowing the possibilities for delegates who are unable to travel to join remotely via an online platform. This annual high-level meeting aims to set the region’s direction for the following years. The meeting leading by Mr. Askolani as the WCO Asia Pacific Vice-chair was  attended by more than 80 participants in-person and virtually, consisting of 22 Customs Administrations, the WCO Secretary General and  the High Officials, the Head of ROCB A/P and the Deputy Head of RILO A/P. Several important agenda items such as WCO Policy and Initiatives, WCO Strategic Plan 2022 – 2025, Report from the Vice-chair, Endorsement on the 2022-2024 Vice-chair, Regional Representatives, Regional Entities and Regional Strategic Plan 2022-2024, ROCB A/P and RILO A/P report, including Member’s Presentations on several Customs issues and other related business were discussed in this meeting.

On the first day of the WCO Asia Pacific Plastic Waste (AAPW) Conference, Director General of Customs and Excise of the Republic of Indonesia, Askolani, as the WCO Asia Pacific Vice-chair, delivered a keynote speech along with WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, and the representative of Japan Government, H. E. Makita Shimokawa. The AAPW Project hosted the conference, which cooperated with the Customs administration and environmental authorities of Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

On 17-18 February 2022, WCO Asia Pacific Vice-chair was invited by WCO Secretariat to attend the 17th Global Meeting of the Regional Entities Established by the WCO Members and the Council Vice-chairs’ Offices. The meeting that organized in a hybrid format was chaired by Mr Larry Liza, the Director of ROCB ESA and attended by all regional Vice-chairs, ROCBs, RILOs, and Regional Entities such as Regional Training Centers (RTCs), Regional Customs Laboratories (RCLs) and Regional Dog Training Centers (RDTCs) across the world. 

KUALA LUMPUR, 26th January 2022 – The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) marked another significant journey today when the national celebration for the 40th International Customs Day (ICD) was officiated by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob. The celebration was held at Kuala Lumpur Customs Complex in Kelana Jaya and was broadcasted live via the official RMCD’s Facebook page. For ICD 2022 celebration, World Customs Organization (WCO) has raised the slogan of, “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem”.

The International Customs Day 2022 was commemorated during a special ceremony held in Customs Head Office building.

A total of 19 Officers were awarded with the WCO Certificate of Merit under this year’s theme “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem”. The certificates were awarded by Commissioner General Mr. Abdulla Shareef.

This International Customs Day (January 26), the New Zealand Customs Service acknowledges the success of its overseas relationships, which is preventing significant quantities of illicit drugs from reaching our shores. To the end of December 2021, Customs has seized around 1,608 kilograms of drugs, including 742 kilograms of methamphetamine at our borders. For the same period, its overseas partners in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East and the Americas have reported seizing 945 kilograms of drugs, including 758 kilograms of methamphetamine, which was destined for New Zealand.

On the occasion of International Customs Day (ICD) 2022, Indonesia Customs held a series of event, including a Special Ceremony with WCO Certificate of Merit Awarding, Embracing Data Culture in Establishing Data-Driven Organization Webinar, and ICD Virtual Run. In the midst of the spread of newly COVID 19 variant Omicron, this event was ran in hybrid format, aiming to increase the sociability of Customs Officer despite the limitation of physical contact.

26th January 2022 - Thai Customs Department celebrated the International Customs Day (ICD), a day designating the establishment of World Customs Organization (WCO) commemorated annually on 26 January, with the slogan “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem” to dedicated the efforts of Customs administrations to accelerate digital transformation.

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