There are reasons why customs want to measure their excellence. The goal is to achieve efficiency in facilitating trade, as well as protecting nations from illegal imports and exports.
Under this view, the World Customs Organization (WCO) successfully carried out the Regional Workshop on Organizational Performance Measurement for the Americas and the Caribbean Region from February 9 to 12, 2021, indicates the Press release.
El Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, Ricardo Treviño, promoter of the virtual meeting, highlighted the Performance Measurement Mechanism (PMM) as a feasible and relevant tool for each national administration. He said thatThe WCO instrument provides a politically recognised and evidence-based scored assessment, which can be used to improve Customs performance and impact economic development and the business environment at national and international level.
“The workshop helps to refine the WCO PMM and strengthen the region's capacity in performance management,” he added. Werner Ovalle, Vice President of the Regional Office of the Americas and the Caribbean and head of Customs of Guatemala.
In that line, Silvan Hungerbuehler, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) shared the importance of the WCO methodology as a key driver for measuring performance, identifying obstacles and meeting strategic objectives, thus contributing to reducing trade costs and boosting competitiveness in the region.
Let us remember that SECO cooperates with the WCO through the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme to develop a self-assessment mechanism for customs management, i.e. a complete and state-of-the-art Customs PMM.
During the event that brought together more than 50 participants, Experiences and views were exchanged on performance measurement, including its role in strategic decision-making, the development of key performance indicators (KPIs) and data collection, among other topics.
Among the conclusions obtained, include observing the different level of maturity of the customs administrations in the region in establishing the Performance Measurement Mechanism and the need to balance the functionality of the tool to turn it into a living instrument of the WCO for the benefit of member customs.
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