At the conclusion of their work held from Tuesday 19 to Thursday 21 November 2019 in Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), the participants in the 23^rd Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Customs Directors General Conference, from 12 of the 23 countries in the WCO-West and Central Africa, adopted 21 recommendations and 6 due diligences. These include the development by the Customs of each country of a National Strategy for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).

The conclusions will be submitted to the 24th meeting of the Committee of Experts and to the 25^th of Customs Directors General Conference to be held in Cotonou (Benin), in March-April 2020.

Below are all of these recommendations and due diligences.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In respect of information and communication technology 

To customs administrations: 

• Implementing an IT security strategy plan, including the designation of an information systems security manager (ISSM) structure to manage all IT security issues; 
• Implementing an automated risk analysis system based on advance intelligence.

To CEEAC/CEMAC customs Administrations: 

• Adopting a Transit Goods Inter-connected Management System “TGIMS” and developing a regulatory and legal framework necessary to its implementation.

Under capacity building: 

To the vice-presidency:

• Putting in place a tool for evaluating the performance of regional structures in collaboration with the WCO secretariat. 

To WCO secretariat: 

• Supporting the regional WOC-WCA BRLR in holding a regional training session on information exchange tools for the benefit of national correspondents;  

To BRRC WCA:

• Developing a programme for capacity building of customs administrations in projects management;

To customs administrations: 

• Capacities building in projects management;
• Developing and implementing a data analysis system in accordance with the WCO Manual on data analysis;
• Preparing an Annual Report on the programmes and outcomes of the capacity building within their administration and World Customs Day theme, based on a template provided by the WCO secretariat.

Under the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA)

To customs administrations:

• Developing a National ACFTA Implementation Strategy.

To the African Union:

• Optimizing the Website of the African Union commission to make ZACFTA documents and information more accessible;
• Cooperating with WTO to coordinate efforts to track the implementation of legal provisions of AFE and ACFTA.

Under Human Resource Management (HRM)

To the vice-presidency:

• Initiating a study in coordination with the WCO on the process of recruitment and training of customs personnel in National Schools of Administration.

To customs administrations:

• Adopting and implementing the OUAGADOUGOU Declaration on the modernization of human resources management and training;

To CRF:

• Developing and implementing their strategic plan;

To the African Union:

• Seeking funding to support regional customs administration to implement the programme for human resources management and training developed by the WCO secretariat;

To the African Union and French Expertise:

• Please take into account the concerns expressed by the customs administrations regarding HRM and training.

In respect of intelligence-related actions

To WCO secretariat: 

Further involving and financing the participation of BRLR in operations to combat major illicit trafficking organized by the WCO.

To customs administrations:

Supporting national correspondents in their awareness-raising information gathering and intelligence mission;

Continuing efforts to acquire and put in place national data base on customs fraud (NCEN, PVS, etc.)

Establishing CN as National Liaison Offices in charge of intelligence. 

In respect of the participation to Experts Committee Meetings

To customs administrations:

Designating a permanent expert and specific experts according to the themes;

DUE DILIGENCES

To the vice-presidency:

To carry out an audit mission in Nigeria in order to elucidate the malfunctions of the regional fund;

Organizing a specific meeting with customs administrations of Togo, Guinea, Senegal, the Republic Democratic of the Congo and Sierra Leone for the finalisation of the terms of reference for the mandate to be given to the financial committee and audit committee. 

Maintaining the inclusion on the agenda of the next meeting of the Customs Directors General, an awareness meeting on leadership and its impact on the success of the reform;

To the vice-presidency and BRRC:

Reducing the duration of the training and HR Managers workshop to five (5) days in accordance with the provisions of the Regional Guide.  

To the vice-presidency, BRRC and CRF

Popularizing the basic regional training kit developed by the regional experts to enable its implementation within the customs administrations of the WCA region;

To BRRC:

Updating the Regional Strategic Plan 2018-2022 by taking into account the African Union's Trade Liberalization Strategy.

The Press office of the Ministry of Finance