Announcements

East African Community Training Seminar Concludes
 
A comprehensive training seminar for a group of East African Community delegates, successfully concluded in late March. The group of delegates received in-depth training that focused on “Integrated Border Management in the East African Community.” Participants included senior delegates from the five EAC countries; the EAC Secretariat; US Government agencies USAID, USTDA, and others; UNCTAD World Customs Organization; World Bank; and African Development Bank. Private sector representatives from the US and the region also participated.

 


 

 

GCI Overview

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency’s (USTDA) Global Customs Initiative (GCI) addresses critical customs training and infrastructure requirements, and incorporate private sector-driven approaches to customs-related technical assistance for countries and regions around the world. GCI aims to improve host country policies, procedures, and regional cooperation; integrate participating countries more closely into the global trading environment; and enhance the international environment for trade and investment.

Programs/Training

The first set of activities under GCI includes a series of senior-level policy dialogues and training workshops on various topics related to the modernization of customs operations worldwide. Customs-related topics to be discussed during the programs include supply chain security, port and cargo security, intellectual property rights licensing and enforcement, anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy measures, customs valuation, rules of origin, advance ruling regimes, classification, compliance with bilateral and multilateral agreements, customs personnel and process integrity, technology assessments, single window systems, enhancing domestic customs training and education capabilities, small and medium enterprise customs issues and rapid release of goods.

List of Programs and Training

Senior-Level Policy Dialogues

Southeast Asia Senior-Level Policy Dialogue (Indonesia, the Phillipines, Malaysia and Vietnam) - June 1-12, 2008 (Completed)
Southeast Asia Business Briefing - June 11, 2008 (Completed)

Training Workshops

Southeast Asia Training Workshop - Hanoi, Vietnam, November 3-7, 2008 (Completed)
Brazil Training Workshop - Fortaleza, Brazil, November 16-17, 2009 (Completed)
East African Community Training Workshop - Mombasa, Kenya, March 28-31, 2010 (Completed)

Participation in GCI

While the initial GCI activities for Southeast Asia, Brazil, and East Africa were concluded in 2008, 2009, and early 2010 opportunities to participate in upcoming programs still exist! Contact GCI headquarters for details.


 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Global Customs Initiative, United States Trade and Development Agency
1000 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1600 Arlington, VA 22209 USA | tel. 703-875-4357 | fax 703-875-4009