Illicit financial flows discussed at WCO

The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday said that the menace of illicit financial flows, including trade-based money laundering and ways to control them were the issues discussed during the 80th Session of World Customs Organisation (WCO).

Delegates discussed the importance of measuring performance of various procedures related to cross-border clearance and methodologies to be adopted.

Referring to different global tools to measure performance including the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking, it was debated that there must be a performance measure tool for the customs in WCO, which would enable the Customs Administrations to measure their performance on different areas related to clearance of goods.

WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya along with other top officials of WCO and customs delegations from more than 30 countries took part in discussions.

Other issues covered during the three-day session included those related to Small Island Economies and how to bring them in the mainstream of the supply chain and Free Trade Zones.

--IANS

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