Sujin Yuk, Technical Officer Tariff and Trade Directorate World Customs Organization (WCO), has commended the Gambia for the accession to RKC that was officially submitted during the last WCO council meeting.
She made the statement at the official opening of a five-day intensive EC-WCO Harmonization System Intermediate training for (12) Customs officers and three brokers held at the Senegambia Beach Hotel underway from 4 to 8th September 2023.
The five-day training is organised by Gambia Revenue Authority funded by European Union and implemented by the World Customs Organization.
She told participants that the training will be conducted with different symbolic implications, first, it is a manifestation of commitment and ownership from the administration to uplift the capacities and skills of its staff.
She added that secondly, it is an excellent example of continuity in cooperation and partnership, noting that the first diagnostic mission was conducted in 2019 which concluded with the accession of the Gambia to the HS Convention and was followed with several activities such as the participation to the HSC and the launch of the cycle of trainings.
She also said this collaboration and consistency in technical assistance was only possible thanks to the partnership and support from the EU.
Sujin Yuk, further disclosed that the EU-WCO Programme for the Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme) is a multi-stakeholder initiative, funded by the EU and implemented by the World Customs Organization.
The overall objective of the program is to provide African countries and other stakeholders involved in the HS implementation process with the required organizational capacities.
“Our work with the Gambia, either under the regional component with ECOWAS or the national engagement has been exemplary and comprehensive to ensure sustainability and contribute to the modernization of tariff classification infrastructure and capacity building,” she said.
Mr. Yankuba Darboe, Commissioner of General Gambia Revenue Authority recalled that this is the second of the workshop within the framework of the EU-WCO programme for the harmonized system in Africa (HS-Africa Programme), funded by the European Union as part of the comprehensive package of assistance to support GRA’s work on building capacity of staff and clearing agents on Harmonized System classification.
He also commended the outstanding contribution of WCO HS experts and the tariff specialists in making the first round the success that it was.
According to him, the first round was held from February 27th to March 3rd, 2023 which was attended by 22 officers from across different areas in customs and three clearing agents and was trained on HS Foundation.
He said this has given the participants a basic but significant understanding of HS and made them better prepared for this second round of the workshop underway.