WCO Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) Yoko ODASHIMA Deputy Head of ROCB December,2006

Establishment of ROCB WCO Capacity Building Strategy and its Regional Approach. Head of the Customs Meeting WCO Asia Pacific Region (March 30 –April 1, 2004) WCO Council Session (June 2004) Approval of Thai Cabinet (September 7, 2004) Opening Ceremony (September 28, 2004)

Opening Ceremony DSG of WCO Executive officers from Member Customs Administrations Representatives from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank Ambassador, Councils, Secretaries from Embassies 60 Senior Officials from Thai Customs

Opening Ceremony

Legal Status of the ROCB Thai Customs Department has requested Cabinet to approve the ROCB (July) Cabinet’s approval was received. The Act of Immunities for Implementation of Customs Co-operation Council B.E covers immunity and exemption for the ROCB including exemption of direct taxes and Customs duty.

Members of Asia Pacific Region

Structure of the ROCB Mr. Takashi Matsumoto (Head and Fund Manager) (Japan Customs ) Mr. Parisorn SUKPRASERT (Thai Customs ) Mr. Douglas Fua Alo (New Zealand Customs) Ms. Orapin Tepanondh (Thai Customs ) Ms. Yoko Odashima (Japan Customs) Ms. Sandra Caligari, (Australian Customs) Mr. Lee Sang - Hyup (Korea Customs)

Mission and Pillars To assist realize efficient and effective Customs Administration To Provide Technical Assistance To Conduct DiagnosisTo Develop Partnership with Donors

Working Plan of the ROCB To develop cooperate with Members in the A/P Region To coordinate and support activities under the CCF in the A/P region. To assist members in conducting CB needs surveys using WCO Capacity Building tools. To facilitate coordination with the Regional Training Centers. To develop partnership with donors including ADB, the World Bank and the APEC; and to monitor WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiation, etc. To be transparent and accountable

Close Cooperation with Members in A/P Region To attend Regional Meetings to report the recent activities of the ROCB and receive latest information about regional Capacity Building policy and activities. To keep close contact with Vice Chair and regional Members. To conduct Capacity Building activities based on the needs of the A/P Region and individual country.

Merits for WCO and A/P Region To be able to facilitate WCO seminars and workshops by reducing the burden of the WCO experts. To be able to meet needs of A/P Region with WCO seminars and workshops. To be able to conduct A/P Regional seminars or workshops even if the WCO’s experts are not available.

Diagnosis Activities (1) Organize WCO Regional Diagnostic Framework workshops in Asia Pacific Region to foster diagnostic experts –Thailand (November 2004) –India (March 2005) –China (October 2005) About 50 officers were trained as diagnostic expert through three workshops.

Diagnosis Activities (2) Dispatch diagnosis missions to requesting countries in collaboration with WCO and donors. –Diagnosis on IPR area in Malaysia (August, 2005) –Diagnosis on FoS in Cambodia (February, 2006) –Diagnosis of FoS in Mongolia (March, 2006) –Diagnosis on FoS in China (April, 2006) –Diagnosis on FoS in Viet Nam (Jun, 2006) –Diagnosis on FoS in Philippines (August, 2006) –Diagnosis on FoS in Malaysia (December, 2006) –Other; Thailand, etc.

Technical Assistance (Regional Seminar: 2005) TF and Revised Kyoto (India) (Jan. 31-Feb. 4) Non-preferential ROO (Sri Lanka) (Feb ) HS Multipurpose (Japan) (Feb ) Diagnosis Framework Workshop (India)( Mar.14-18) Framework of Standards (Hong Kong) (Mar ) Enforcement of illicit Drug (Philippines) (Apr ) Valuation Agreement (Malaysia) (May 30-Jun.3) Diagnosis Framework Workshop (China) (Oct ) HS 2007 Amendment (India) (Dec.12-16)

Technical Assistance (Regional Seminar: 2006) Implementation of FoS (Malaysia) (Feb ) HRD (Japan) (Mar. 6-10) WCO Data Model (India) (Apr. 3-8) CEN (Customs Enforcement Network) Application (Malaysia) (Jun 12-15) Synthetic Drug Enforcement (China)( Aug ) HS 2007 Amendment (Malaysia) (Nov.13-17)

Cooperation with Regional Training Centers (1) Five Training Centers –China, Hong Kong China, India, Japan and Malaysia To hold Heads of WCO Regional Training Centers Meeting 1 st Meeting: September 29, 2004 in Bangkok 2 nd Meeting: March 21-22, 2005 in Delhi 3 rd Meeting: October 13-14, 2005 in Shanghai 3 rd Meeting: October 13-14, 2005 in Shanghai 4 th Meeting: March 6, 2006 in Japan 4 th Meeting: March 6, 2006 in Japan

Partnership with Donors (1) Cooperation with Asian Development Bank (ADB) –Visit to ADB Headquarters to develop cooperation; November 2004 and April 2005 –Joint seminar with ADB: Trade Facilitation and one stop service for Central Asian Customs and China and Mongolia; July 2005 –Joint GMS fact finding mission; August 2005 –Attend ADB Seminar relating to Customs modernization project: June and December –Invite ADB to the WCO regional seminar on FoS: Feb –Co-host GMS Head of Customs meeting: Sept. 2006

Partnership with Donors (2) Cooperation with the World Bank –Attend seminars in Cambodia, Viet Nam –Attend Diagnosis Mission in Philippine and Lao UNEP –Bilateral meeting, Attend Green Customs Initiative Seminar/ Workshops, Invite 3 rd RTC meeting UNESCAP,UNCTAD, USAID –Attend seminars and meetings APEC –Joint Seminar on Time Release Study for Malaysia, Thai and Indonesia; April and May 2005 – ditto, for China and Papua New Guinea: Aug and Oct 2006

Monitor WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiation WTO agreed to include Trade Facilitation issue into its negotiation agenda on August 1. Monitor WTO negotiation closely in collaboration with WCO and member countries which actively participate the negotiation. Monitor WTO activities on Trade Facilitation. Provide necessary information for developing members.

Accountability & Transparency Issue (Publication) Provide information on the ROCB activities for the members and public is important: –Web-site WCO agreed to support the development of ROCB’s Web-site in the WCO Asia Pacific homepage. –Newsletter Issue Newsletter to members quarterly. Issue Newsletter to members quarterly.

Accountability & Transparency Issue (Accounting) Follow WCO accounting procedures Provide Accounting records to the WCO once a year and source Customs administrations. Ready for accepting relevant fund with accountability (keep accounting book and credit advice as a supporting documents when accept of fund)

Thank you