The Canada Border Services Agency
and the World Customs Organization

The RCCDG and the meeting of the WCO Members of the Americas Region

The IX Regional Conference of the Customs Directors General of the Americas and the Caribbean (RCCDG) and Meeting of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Members of the Americas Region was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from May 30 to June 2, 2006. This annual event was attended by 42 delegates from 18 Customs administrations of the Americas and the Caribbean who actively participated in the regional discussions and strategic workshop sessions. High-level delegates from the World Customs Organization, the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council, and the Inter-American Development Bank also attended.

The IX RCCDG Conference centred on the following three strategic issues of significance to the region:

1. Implementation of the WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE);
2. Capacity Building and the Modernization of Customs Administrations to Meet Challenges of the 21st Century; and
3. Intellectual Property Rights.

The Conference embraced a 3C approach of communication, cooperation and capacity building as a means for the region to seize opportunities to move forward on these strategic issues and raise the profile of the region in the global arena.

The Conference also:

• approved the development of a regional capacity building and training strategy to be presented at the 2006 WCO Council Sessions that will include the establishment of WCO Regional Training Centres in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela;
• endorsed the Dominican Republic proposal to establish a regional Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protection Working Group to contribute to the work of the WCO IPR Strategic Group;
• committed to collectively translate the WCO E-learning modules in Spanish to ensure wider coverage and use by regional administrations;
• promoted the implementation of the WCO SAFE in the region; and
• agreed to the regional representatives for the next two years, including the next Vice-Chair for the WCO's South America, North America, Central America and the Caribbean Region.

• Información en Español [PDF]