Directors General of Customs gathered at WCO Headquarters from 27 to 29 June 2019, as part of the annual Council Sessions, to consider and endorse the enormous amount of work done by the Organization from July 2018 to June 2019, and to provide strategic direction as well as chart the way forward in the months ahead.

This dossier touches on the WCO’s main areas of work – compliance, facilitation, tariff and trade affairs, and capacity building – during the period under review, and presents the progress made and initiatives taken in each of these areas, including interesting events that occurred during the Council Sessions.

Most discussions and experiences shared within the various WCO working bodies are not reported in the pages that follow as the main focus lies on the development and maintenance of instruments and tools, as well as on training and technical assistance activities provided to WCO Members.

However, detailed reports of what is said at WCO meetings are published within weeks after meetings have taken place and are made available on the WCO website to representatives of Customs and other accredited persons, with the report of the Permanent Technical Committee available for perusal by the general public.