Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs of India and Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, during the meeting on 8 April 2019 to mark the establishment of the Indian Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF India)
India has setup a Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) for assisting the capacity building & technical assistance activity of WCO. In this regard, Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) of India, Mr. Pranab Kumar Das met WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, on 8 April 2019 in Brussels to mark the establishment of the Indian Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF India).
CCF India will provide financial support, in an amount of 50 million Indian rupees (approximately 643,000 euro), to developing and least-developed WCO Members, and particularly to small island economies in the South Asian region. Based on Members’ identified needs and priorities, the Fund will cover capacity building activities focused on trade facilitation and the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, compliance and enforcement, and Customs modernization.
WCO Secretary General Mikuriya expressed his gratitude to India for the important grant and welcomed CBIC’s initiative to reinforce WCO capacity building activities. SG mentioned that the WCO is grateful for the ongoing cooperation between the WCO and CBIC and looks forward to further supporting Members through the new Indian Customs Cooperation Fund.
CBIC Chairman mentioned that India is committed to work for the development of different member administrations following the policies and strategic goals of WCO. Establishment of the Indian CCF, demonstrate India’s readiness to contribute in building Customs capacity in partnership with WCO.