On July 14, Mr. Hu Wei, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China, attended the 127th/128th Sessions of the WCO Customs Cooperation Council in Brussels. During the Sessions, the WCO Members listened to the report by the Secretary General and discussed the WCO hot issues. At the Meeting of Heads of BRICS Customs, Vice Minister Hu set forth China’s position on the signing of Customs documents in the upcoming BRICS Summit and the WCO governance issues.
On the same day, Vice Minister Hu signed the Memorandum of Understanding Between the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China and the Revenue and Customs Authority of the Republic of Fiji, and met respectively with Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the WCO, Ms. Carolyn Tremain, Comptroller (Chief Executive) of New Zealand Customs Service, Mr. Bill Perry, Deputy Comptroller of New Zealand Customs Service, Mr. Visvanath Das, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, Mr. Zhang Lirong, Minister of China’s Mission to the EU, Mr. Jimmy TAM, Assistant Commissioner of Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department and Mr. Vong Lao Lek, Director General of Macau Customs Service.
On July 15, under the witness of the WCO Members, Vice Minister Hu, Mr.Stephen Quest, Director-General of DG Taxation and Customs Union of the EU, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the WCO and Mr. Jimmy Tam, Assistant Commissioner of Hong Kong Customs & Excise Department, signed the Joint Administrative Arrangement Pilot Project to Develop Smart and Secure Trade Lanes-Phase 3, which marked the official launch of the third phase of SSTL.
Vice Minister Hu also had in-depth discussions and reached consensus respectively with Mr. Stephen Quest, Director-General of DG Taxation and Customs Union of the EU, Mr. Roman Quaedvlieg, Commissioner of the Australian Border Force, Mr. Heru Pambudi, Director General of Indonisia Customs and Excise and Mr. Kristian Vanderwaeren, Director-General of the General Administration of Customs & Excise of Belgium, on a range of issues including enhancing the exchange of Customs officers and practical bilateral cooperation. Vice Minister Hu and Mr. Roman Quaedvlieg, the Australian Border Force Commissioner also signed the 2016 Arrangement for Comprehensive Cooperation between Customs Administrations—An Action Plan to Enhance Strategic Partnership under the MOU on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters Between the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China and the Australian Government as represented by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.