SECO-WCO GTFP Phase II kicks off in Mongolia with an initiation mission

From 1 to 5 July 2024, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a successful initiation mission to the Mongolia Customs General Administration (MCGA) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Carried out within the framework of the second phase of the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), this mission aimed to present the goals and scope of this new phase of the GTFP, review trade facilitation priorities, and, together with stakeholders, identify potential support areas to inform the development of an initial country project roadmap (2024-2027).

The mission encompassed bilateral meetings with the Swiss Cooperation Office and Consular Agency in Mongolia (SDC), the Deputy Director General of the MCGA and the Customs management team on critical areas related to trade facilitation and ongoing initiatives in the country.

On 2 July, a productive and innovative project initiation workshop was delivered by the GTFP Team, with the participation of 33 representatives from the public and private sectors, including the SDC, the MCGA, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Authority for Border Protection, the Postal Regulatory Authority, the Communication Regulatory Commission, the Accreditation National Authority, the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection, the Medicine and Medical Devices Regulatory Authority, the National Laboratory of Food Safety, the General Authority of Veterinary, the Mongol Post Co Ltd, the Chamber of Commerce, the Customs Broker Association, and the Partnership Center Customs-Business.

Throughout the workshop, all participants actively contributed to collaborative breakout exercises aimed at identifying the key priorities and trade challenges faced by both the public sector and the business community. With the input collected from all stakeholders, an initial country project roadmap was drafted with specific initial areas of support, such as Strategic Planning, Performance Measurement, Consultations, Integrity, Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), and Time Release Study (TRS), among others.

Mongolia was confirmed as a GTFP full-fledged beneficiary country in February 2024 after receiving specific technical assistance in 2022-2023 to develop a Risk-based Customs Control Strategy incorporating its latest mandates for conducting sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls. The GTFP Phase I intervention supported the MCGA to increase the effectiveness of risk management by 30%.

This successful collaboration among the Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), the WCO, and the MCGA will continue over the next four years and will envision enhancing the MCGA’s capabilities to implement best practices and international standards related to trade facilitation, particularly those of the WCO and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

For more information on the GTFP, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.