Luanda - The Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury, Ottoniel dos Santos, on Monday in Luanda defended the harmonisation of customs procedures in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), with a view to strengthening confidence in tax and customs administrations.
Speaking at the opening of the 38th meeting of the Council of Directors-General of Customs of the CPLP, the minister stressed that harmony reduces delays and speeds up taxes, benefits that reflect on markets and consumers, with low costs and safer products.
He stressed the role played by the tax and customs services not only in collecting revenue, but also in protecting trade, the environment, health and fair competition, which he considered fundamental.
'The creation of globally linked customs is a common goal that must be achieved in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, as the secretary-general of the World Customs Organization (WCO) said in his speech on the date,' he stressed.
He said that this work is essential to ensure the financing of essential services and the development of countries' infrastructures.
For his part, the secretary-general of the World Customs Organization, Ian Saunders, stressed the importance of holding the event to understand the concerns and priorities of this branch within the CPLP and seek to find ways for the world institution to contribute to solutions.
Corroborating the standardization of procedures, he explained that it is a continuous process with specific disciplines in the customs arena that allows ideas to be collected in order to formulate policies and standards for all.
The chairman of the Board of Directors of AGT, José Leiria, highlighted the fact that the country will coordinate, in the next 12 months, the activities of the customs administrations of the CPLP, adding that the four days of work will focus on issues related to trade facilitation and authorized economic operators.
The participants will also address the aspects that aim to ensure greater ease in the customs landing process by importers, exporters and international trade agents, as well as discuss matters in the field of prevention of smuggling, illicit trade or circulation of narcotics.
Running until the 31st of this month, the meeting analyses, among others, the results of the Integrated Cooperation and Technical Assistance Program (PICAT) VII, the approval of PICAT VIII - Triennium 2025-2027 - and the evaluation of compliance with the recommendations of previous meetings.
The event brings together top representatives of the tax and customs administrations of this community and has as its theme 'Mobilizing Customs of Traditional Partners and New Partners, around Clear Objectives'. HM/VC/DOJ
