On November 23, 2015, Mr. Lü Bin, Vice Minister and Head of Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs of China held bilateral talks with Mr. Enrique Canon, Director General of the National Customs Directorate of Uruguay in Montevideo.

The two sides exchanged in-depth views and reached consensus on a range of areas, including launching the negotiation on the Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters (CMAA), exploring cooperation on mutual recognition of AEO programs, information technology, the procurement and supply of resources and equipments, especially the capacity building cooperation under the framework of WCO.

After the meeting, Vice Minister Lü and Director General Canon signed the Minutes between the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China and the National Customs Directorate of Uruguay. Mr. Yan Banghua, Chinese Ambassador to Uruguay and Mr. Fernando Lugris, Uruguayan Ambassador to China also attended the meeting.

On the same day, Vice Minister Lü also paid a courtesy call on Mr. Yan Banghua, Chinese Ambassador to Uruguay. Vice Minister Lü briefed on the progress of China-Uruguay customs cooperation, such as launching negotiations on the CMAA and discussing the feasibility of conducting mutual recognition of AEO programs. Ambassador Yan expressed his gratitude to China Customs on its efforts to expand the bilateral cooperation with Uruguayan Customs and its support in the strategy of “going global” of the Chinese enterprises in Uruguay.