On May 4 to 6, 2010, the XXXII Annual Conference of the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC) was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The host of the XXXII CCLEC Conference, the Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA) of the Dominican Republic, provided an excellent venue for the Conference that was attended by delegates from twenty seven CCLEC member administrations, representatives of the World Customs Organization (WCO), CARIFORUM, the UN Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, and a number of important private sector partners for the Caribbean Region.

The Annual Conference began with a welcome from the host, Sr. Rafael Camilo, Director General of DGA Dominican Republic, followed by an address by Mr. Jean-François Dutheil, Director, International Affairs Department of French Customs, and a keynote address by Mr. Pierre Bertrand, Acting Deputy Director, Compliance and Facilitation Directorate of the WCO.

Participants were especially pleased to welcome Ambassador Willys Ramirez Diaz, Assistant Secretary General of CARIFORUM, who provided a very pertinent address regarding the role of Customs in facilitating trade within the Caribbean region.

Officers from the Cayman Islands Accounts Unit, Mr Gabino José Polanco from the Dominican Republic and Mr Franklin Calbero from the Netherlands Antilles were honoured with the CCLEC Award of Excellence and the CCLEC Integrity Award was presented to Ms Aiesha Charles of St. Kitts and Nevis.  A special award of distinction was bestowed to Mr. Franklin Calmero of the Netherlands Antilles for his significant contributions and years of service to the CCLEC that date back to 1978. 

In line with the Conference theme of : “Changing Customs to Face Global Challenges”, two workshop sessions conducted during the Conference provided an opportunity for participants to consider the importance of improving communication between trade and Customs and what capacity building means for the Customs community.  CCLEC members committed to continue advancement of their Customs reform and modernization objectives and shared best practices in engaging the private sector to ensure successful implementation of modernization objectives. The CCLEC will be working towards establishing formal avenues for Customs-private sector consultations.

The CCLEC continues to support its membership by providing training programs that are geared to the specific needs of Caribbean Customs administrations.  Consequently, the first semester of the CCLEC Advanced Diploma Customs Management Program is to be launched in August 2010.  This program, which has been developed by the CCLEC in partnership with the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies of the University of Canberra, will provide Customs managers in the region with the knowledge and skills needed for effective leadership and effective change management in order to lead and improve organizational change efforts.

Participants to the Conference learnt that the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States fully supports the CCLEC eSeaClear, which is The Caribbean Pre-Arrival Notification System for yachts and other pleasure crafts.  The CCLEC eSeaClear is intended to simplify the clearance process, reduce time spent with Customs processing and generally improve the experience of the visiting yacht crew and passengers.

As a means to enhance communications with its partners and to promote the sharing of information between CCLEC members, the CCLEC Secretariat announced to participants the launch of a new and revamped Web site that is found at: www.cclec.net.

Members reaffirmed their commitment to the organization and agreed to continue to work collaboratively in sharing best practices in order to meet international standards in Customs management in the 21^st Century.

Barbados kindly offered to host the XXXIII Annual CCLEC Conference which will be held with the objective of “Green Customs” in mind in May 2011.

May 6, 2010