As a result of this cooperation all regional members will be able to benefit from the program.  A workshop to train regional facilitators will be held in the fourth quarter of 2008 after which diagnostic studies will be carried out, in conjunction with WCO, to assist members who wish to participate in the program.

The 30^th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council was held in Grand Cayman, from May 21 -24, 2008.  The theme of this year’s conference “Security and Facilitation: the way of the future” is particularly relevant as the Caribbean region is preparing to respond to the demands of a rapidly changing trading environment.

The Annual Conference began with a welcome from the host, Mr Carlon Powery, Collector of Customs, Cayman Islands, followed with the official opening by His Excellency, the acting Governor - Mr George Mc Carthy and Mrs. Winniefred Forstine-DeSilva, Chairperson of the 29^th Annual CCLEC conference.

The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Michael Schmitz, Director, Compliance and Facilitation of the World Customs Organization (WCO).  In keeping with the theme of the conference, Mr Schmitz spoke about the introduction of the SAFE Framework in response to the need to both facilitate and secure the global supply chain.

Under the auspices of the CCLEC, the French Customs Caribbean Headquarters organized the annual meeting of the Enforcement Liaison Officers in Guadeloupe FWI from April 15 to 17, 2008.  Twenty one participants from the Caribbean countries attended: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Turks and Caicos, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the United States.

The French Customs, the French Embassy for the OECS in St Lucia and the CIFAD were the main sponsors of this event.   The seminar had three objectives: (1) review the 2007 Customs Enforcement activity, (2) highlight the role of the Caribbean Customs Enforcement Network in enforcement effort against illicit activities including false invoicing and (3) defined a road map for the CCLEC in the field of Enforcement support since new staff has been assigned by Dominica and Dominican Republic Customs to the Joint Intelligence Office.  The participants also had the opportunity to share their views and discuss salient issues related to IPR, interagency cooperation, partnership with Interpol and participation in the border security operation initiated by the French Customs (Atlantis 2008).