A brief report of the conference.

In response to the global financial crisis that resulted in growing pressure on revenue collections by Customs administrations, the WCO organized the Revenue Management Conference from 10-11 December 2009. The major objective of the conference was to discuss ways to ensure fair, efficient and effective revenue collection by Customs administrations as part of the WCO Revenue Package initiative.
More than 100 participants gathered to share experiences on revenue management including Directors General and senior representatives of Customs, international organizations and the public sector. In his opening speech the WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, recommended that Customs administrations use international standards, guidelines and capacity building programmes incorporated in the WCO Revenue Package to discharge their fiscal responsibility in a fair, efficient and effective manner; critical for many WCO Members, especially in the developing countries. He also emphasized the relevance of the ten building blocks in the WCO Customs in the 21st Century strategic policy in addressing the management issue in revenue collection, including risk management and better cooperation with tax administrations.
All speakers underlined the importance of strategy (improving trader compliance, facilitating legitimate trade by reducing administrative burdens, and incorporating risk management into Customs controls) and leadership to provide for continuity in reforming Customs administrations. While there are several organizational models for revenue authorities, they do not necessarily provide a “one size fits all” solution. Moreover, organizational structures should follow and support strategy and leadership. Topics concerning ways to address integrity, informal trade and exchange of information by using technology were also widely discussed at the conference.
Kunio Mikuriya appreciated the contributions of the speakers and the audience to the overall debate. He pointed out that it was the first conference on the issue of revenue management ever held by the WCO. He underlined the timeliness and the necessity to discuss revenue management and highlighted the success of the event.