Henri Loundou, Director of cabinet, representing the Minister of Finance and Budget, Calixte Nganongo, opened, Tuesday 19 November 2019 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, the 23^rd Experts Committee Meeting of Customs Directors General Conference of the World Customs Organization (WCO)- West and Central Africa (WCA). The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area is on the agenda.

Scheduled until Thursday 21 November 2019, this meeting, which are preparing for the 25^rd Conference of the Directors General of Customs, will also examine other issues. “For 3 days, experts will discuss  the recommendations of the 24^rd Conference of Directors General of Customs of West and Central WCO-Africa Region, held in March 2019 in Bangui, in Central African Republic ; the various customs issues related to the functions of the customs administrations ; the progress on the inter-connexion of transit systems and management of regional risks in the customs sub-region”,  Henri Loundou said.

During this meeting, experts will equally discuss the outcome and progress of the Regional Strategic Plan (RSP) 2018-2022 ; outcome  and lessons learned from the Conference of WCA Customs and  partners, held in Niamey, Niger, from 16 to 18 October 2019 ; the review of the Report of the Finance and Audit Committee ; the Report  on Annual Contributions, disbursements and the situation of the bank account of the region ; development and consolidation of Terms of reference (TDR) of the mandates for each of the two Committees- finance committee (Ghana-Nigeria-Gambia) and Audit committee (DRC-Gabon-Sierra Leone) ; etc.

The Press office of the Ministry of Finance