The “XLI Meeting of National Customs Directors of Latin America, Spain and Portugal” is being held in Peru today (29.04.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX) to discuss issues related to the inspection and facilitation of foreign trade, within the framework of the Multilateral Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (COMALEP).
Specifically, the agenda of the virtual meeting involves aspects such as the instruments of the World Customs Organization, the use of new technologies in the region, good practices to facilitate trade and customs control in the context of COVID-19, successful anti-corruption cases, among others, according to the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration of Peru.
In the welcome of the videoconference, the Deputy Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Ricardo Treviño, said: "The WCO Action Plan includes 25 concrete operations that support the efforts of Customs Administrations in the economic recovery resulting from the pandemic." The official also presented the BACUDA project, a data analysis system for customs that enables the detection of risks in international trade such as smuggling, undervaluation and illegal flow of goods.
"Within the WCO, cooperation is a living process that responds to the monitoring and compliance of the Strategic Plan with a comprehensive vision, which includes actions that promote compliance in Foreign Trade operations," he added. Regional Vice President of the OMA, Werner Ovalle.
To its turn, Juan de Dios Vásquez, Head of International Affairs at the Tax Administration Service of Mexico, said that the meeting allows for sharing experiences to identify best practices and address substantive changes for a strong economic recovery in the context of the pandemic.
La Representative of the Peruvian Customs, Marilú Llerena, He stressed: “As the host country of COMALEP, we are confident that cooperation and mutual assistance between customs administrations will help us in the exchange of information, the fight against illicit activities and solidarity to face the pandemic and contribute to the growth of our economies.”
He also highlighted the role of Customs in the current pandemic circumstances, remaining on the front line and enabling the continuity of foreign trade operations and the security of the global logistics chain.
To complete, the Director of Customs, Maria Pilar Jurado Borrego, of the Spanish Tax Agency, spoke at the panel: “Experiences in the use of new technologies. Customs risk management system based on the exploitation and cross-referencing of information, data analysis and mining, and Artificial Intelligence.”
The Multilateral Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the National Customs Directorates of Latin America, Spain and Portugal was signed in Mexico City in 1981 and ratified in 1999.
Currently, 21 countries are part of this agreement, and it serves as a forum for meeting and debate between the heads of the Hispanic American Customs Services and between representatives of the main intergovernmental organizations and private entities in the region.
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