Goro SUZUKI is a Technical Attaché responsible for Rules of Origin in the Tariff and trade affairs, the World Customs Organization (WCO), from 2020.

Prior joining the WCO, he worked for Japan Customs for 15 years in the field of tariff, trade and facilitation areas. In the career, he developed his expertise as origin expert at the Rules of Origin Center, Tokyo Customs. As an Assistant Director of the office of Rules of Origin, Japan's Ministry of Finance, he participated in various international negotiations/consultations, e.g. EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), also he worked on uniform application of preferential and non-preferential rules of origin within its Customs administration.

Mr. Babajee joined the World Customs Organization in October 2013 as Technical Officer in the Valuation sub-Directorate of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate.

Worked for the Customs Administration of Mauritius for more than thirty years.

Accredited as a Customs Valuation Trainer by the WCO in 2011 following a regional accreditation activity held in Harare, Zimbabwe. Closely associated with training in the Mauritius Revenue Authority.

Samson Bilangna (Samson.Bilangna@wcoomd.org) currently works as a Senior Technical Officer at the WCO Facilitation and Procedures Sub-Directorate and deals with Trade Facilitation related issues and, especially, the Revised Kyoto Convention and Time Release Study among others. He is one of the key members of the COVID19 task force who manages the WCO response aiming to support Customs administrations and all stakeholders in mitigating the impact of the pandemic and sustaining the supply chain continuity.

Prior to his appointment to the WCO Secretariat, he served as the IT Director in Cameroon Customs where he spent 18 years in various key positions and conducted several innovative projects during the reform process such as the launching of the ASYCUDA (Automated System on Customs Data) in Cameroon and the introduction of the performance measurement initiative leading to the implementation to a new professional culture in Cameroon Customs.

Based on the experience gained during his career and, in his capacity as a WCO accredited Customs Modernization Adviser (CMA), he published a number of articles in scientific reviews and co-authored four books published by the World Bank on reforms in Customs administrations, most of them being publicly available in internet.

He is holder of two Masters in Quantitative methods and International economics (Governance of Organizations for International Development) from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon and the University Pierre Mendès-France of Grenoble.

Christopher is a Senior Policy Officer in the Australian Border Force (‘ABF’). He plays a central role in shaping cross-border E-Commerce policy in Australia, and supporting the Australian Government’s broader strategic policy agenda on trade facilitation. Christopher led Australia’s input into a range of governance mechanisms for the WCO Cross-Border E-Commerce Framework of Standards, including the two-tiered update/review mechanism, and the key performance indicator framework developed in collaboration with the Korea Customs Service and WCO Secretariat.

In addition to E-Commerce, Christopher supports international mail policy within the ABF, advising the Australian Government on a range of policy matters including advance electronic data and border cooperation. Christopher also leads policy on Australia’s temporary importation procedure under free trade agreements, the Revised Kyoto and Istanbul Conventions and the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Prior to joining the ABF, Christopher worked as an economist on intergovernmental relations and revenue policy for the New South Wales Government, and as a lawyer in the private sector on administrative law matters. He holds a Juris Doctor and Master of Economics from the University of Sydney, a Master of Legal Practice from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne.

Mr. Si Mohamed EL HAIL is the People Development Programme Manager and the Co-Manager of the Leadership and Ma Development Program at the WCO Capacity Building Directorate.

He joined the WCO since 2013 to work as regional coordinator under the framework of WCO-World Bank project to strengthen capacities of Customs administrations of sub-Saharan Africa countries. From 2015 to 2018, he worked as a lead HRM expert in the framework of the WCO-Western Africa Customs Administration Modernization project. Thanks to his determination and his competencies, EL HAIL contributions were of great added value both at the level of the secretariat and at the level of members. Indeed, Mr. EL HAIL participated actively in the development of new programmes, documents, tools and instruments aimed at the development of Customs people.

Mr. EL HAIL, has accumulated customs experience of over 16 years at the level of Moroccan customs. He has also worked for many public and private organizations in the areas of HRM and organizational development.

He holds a PhD in HRM and a master degree in organizational development from Sherbrook University in Canada.

Valentina Ferraro joined the World Customs Organization (WCO) in January 2019 as a Technical Attaché in the Procedures and Facilitation Sub-Directorate. She is currently responsible in the fields of Performance measurement, Waste and sustainable development. Other areas of work include Digital Customs, Single Window and business continuity in the framework of the COVID-19 response.

Prior to joining the WCO, she held executive positions In the Italian Customs and Monopoly Agency, as a Director of the coordination office for personnel and organization affairs, as well as acting Director of the office for procedures and controls in the sector of excise duties of the Regional Directorate for Sicily.

PhD in Public management and governance, she previously held research and teaching positions at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and worked as a consultant at the national and international level for public administrations the such as the National Authority for Public administration Evaluation, Transparency and Integrity (now National Anticorruption Authority), the Italian research center for labour, economic and development, and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

Motohiro Fujimitsu is Deputy Director in charge of WCO matters, International Cooperation Division, Customs and Tariff Bureau, Ministry of Finance, Japan.

He joined Japan Customs in 1999 and where he worked for various matters including maritime enforcement, advanced information on air cargo and international matters such as technical assistance and WCO affairs. From 2012 to 2015, he worked as Customs Expert for l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Afrique (UEMOA), which is a regional economic community in West Africa for 8 Member States whose Commission is located in Burkina Faso. During his posting at the UEMOA Commission, he especially worked for the interconnection of Customs IT systems on a corridor connecting Togo and Burkina Faso.

Motohiro holds an M.A. in International Development Studies from the National Graduate Study Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo, Japan.

Mr Gout started his police career in the early 90’s, in the anti-riot units in France with responsibilities in public order, public safety and border management. Throughout his career he held several positions in charge of international cooperation programs, to enhance the capabilities of partner countries in the field of border control, human trafficking, counter-terrorism, forensics...

He worked as a Liaison Officer for anti-terrorism / counter-terrorism, and as Chief of Police, Superintendent in several police stations.

He was the Deputy Head of Crime Scene Investigation units in France, Head of the AFIS and DNA Offices. In this position, he acted in the field of Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) (railway/plane crash, ante mortem inquiry on French victims,...) and on terrorist-attack crime scenes.

He also headed the IT division of the French CID in charge of the digital forensic judicial analysis and IT developments.

Between June 2017 and July 2020, Mr Gout was the Assistant Director of the Forensics and Police Data Management Sub-Directorate at INTERPOL’s Headquarters in Lyon, France, managing INTERPOL’s databases such as the Stolen and Lost Travel Documents Database (SLTD), the Stolen Motor Vehicles Database (SMV), the INTERPOL Criminal Information System, the fingerprint database, the DNA database and the facial recognition database. Along with overviewing the databases and forensic units, he supervises several projects, all with a common denominator to combat terrorism and transnational crime and to make the world safer, be it through promoting effective border management; allowing trusted partners in the private sector to conduct advanced passenger checks in real-time, in collaboration with the law enforcement community or preventing and countering illicit trafficking in firearms by linking law enforcement efforts and enhancing member countries’ policing capabilities to combat the trafficking and the illicit proliferation of firearms.

Since 22 July 2020, he is Director for the Operational Support and Analysis Directorate. Responsible for both strategic and operational activities, he commands a diverse directorate that includes police forensics, police data management, crime analysis, fugitives, border security, 24/7 operational and crisis / major incident support capabilities. As such, he is leading a variety of innovative projects including the INTERPOL’s Integrated Border Management Programme, delivering operational response to border security threats, capacity building programmes that lead into successful field operations tackling human smuggling, counter terrorism, narcotics, firearms trafficking and major international event security; I-Checkit – developing robust and assured public private partnerships to protect and detect threat in the aviation, maritime and other relevant areas; Project STADIA - delivering capacity building to the State of Qatar for their FIFA World Cup in 2022, and hosts of other major international events.

Mrs Gael Grooby joined the WCO as Deputy Director Tariff and Trade Affairs in 2017. She came to the WCO with 27 years of experience in Customs trade, compliance and facilitation areas. However, her particular area of expertise is the Harmonized System. She was the Deputy Director of Tariff Policy in Australia prior to joining the WCO and had been Australia’s delegate for both the Harmonized System Committee and the Review Sub-Committee for several years.

Igor Jakupić is a program officer in the WCO Environmental Program, responsible for part of the illegal wildlife trade and parts of the Program and the implementation of the project towards a stronger customs role in alleviating illegal wildlife trade.

He is a former customs officer from the Republic of Croatia, with 16 years of experience, mainly in the field of environmental crime, and especially in the field of illegal wildlife trade on the customs side.

In early 2017, he became a member of EUROPOL's (European Law Enforcement Agency) environmental crime team, where he worked on operational support to the EU Member States for almost three years. This provided him with the knowledge and experience needed to better understand the mechanisms of international cooperation, their potentials and obstacles, and also expanded my profile in the area of ​​operational support to members.

In November 2019, he joined the WCO Environmental Program.

Throughout his customs career, focusing on the area of ​​illegal wildlife trafficking, he understand that the role of Customs is key to better enforcement of wildlife trafficking regulations, at home and abroad. In order to recognize this role, customs administrations should consider this criminal area a priority. In this way, they will become stronger and more effective in detecting, intercepting and processing irregularities related to wildlife trade. To achieve this, there should be an appropriate risk management system as the heart of a modern customs administration, as one of the starting points for an efficient Customs Service.

Ms. Satoko Kagawa is a Technical Officer in the World Customs Organization (WCO), established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC), whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations. The WCO represents 183 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.

She is responsible for matters relating to trade facilitation and Customs procedures within the WCO, with a special focus on the comprehensive review of the Revised Kyoto Convention, cross border e-commerce, free zones and railway transportation.

In her previous post as a Deputy Director in Japan’s Ministry of Finance, Ms. Kagawa worked on modernization of Customs procedures by utilizing Customs declaration data as well as Big Data analysis and by introducing modern inspection techniques.

She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Virginia - Darden School of Business.

Sundong Kim is a senior researcher in the Data Science Group at Institute for Basic Science. His research interests include predictive analytics with real-world data with temporal, imbalanced, and incomplete using machine learning. Currently, he is a leading expert in the BACUDA initiative, developing customs fraud detection algorithms in collaboration with the WCO, NCKU, and NCS. Before joining IBS, he obtained his Ph.D. at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). His works were highlighted in premier data mining conferences and journals such as KDD, ICDM, CIKM, ECCV, PKDD, PAKDD, and KAIS. Today, he will present his joint work, DATE: Dual Attentive Tree-Aware Embedding for Customs Fraud Detection, which is published in KDD 2020.

Tejo Kusuma, Technical Officer, Procedures/Facilitation, Compliance and Facilitation Directorate, WCO, since January 2015.

He previously worked for the Customs Administration of Indonesia for seven years in Customs Modernization area including Excise management and control, E-Declaration, Bonded-zone logistics management, Business process managements, as well as Passenger facilitation and control as systems analyst prior to joining the WCO.

He is now working in the area of Digital Customs, Single Window, the WCO Data Model as well as Advance Passenger Information. Additionally, he is also the secretary of the Data Model Project Team (DMPT), the Information Management Sub Committee (IMSC) and the WCO/ICAO/IATA Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) Contact Committee.

Mr. Luo is a Technical Officer responsible for Customs valuation in the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, the World Customs Organization(WCO).  He worked for the General Administration of Customs of People’s Republic of China (GACC) for 17 years before he joined the WCO in 2019.

He was a delegate of China to the Technical Committee on Customs valuation.

He is a WCO accredited expert trainer on Customs valuation, and facilitated various Customs valuation related workshops and capacity building activities for the benefit of WCO Members.

Ágnes Nagy, lawyer-economist by profession. Since 2017, I am responsible for the customs formalities relating to low value consignments and the legal framework for implementing the customs aspects of the new VAT e-commerce rules in the EU entering into force in 2021 in the Unit in charge of customs legislation.

Prior to e-commerce policy-making, I dealt with customs data integration and harmonisation in DG TAXUD, and was involved in the development of the EU Customs Data Model (EUCDM).

Before joining the Commission in 2009, I gained wide-ranging customs experience as consultant in the private sector in Hungary over ten years.

I am the Head of Sector for General Customs Legislation and the European Commission Representative for e-commerce issues at WCO.

Mr. Kenji Omi is a Technical Attache in the World Customs Organization (WCO). 

He belongs to Research Unit of WCO Secretariat. His current research field is about waste control at border, and his research fields so far include the issue of free zones. He is now administering the WCO 15^th Annual PICARD Conference which will be held during 23-26 November 2020.

His previous posts in Japan Customs before coming to WCO include: rules of origin, international merchandise trade statistics, and intellectual property right enforcement at border.

He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Cornell University.

Dimitris Politopoulos, Project/Client Relations Coordinator for E-learning Programme, Capacity Building Directorate, WCO.

Dimitris is responsible for the Sales and Marketing Strategy of WCO Academy, WCO’s e-learning portal for the Private Sector. His Academic qualifications include a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with emphasis in Marketing from California Lutheran University in USA and an undergraduate university degree in Agricultural Economy and Agricultural Business Administration from Democritus University ofThrace in Greece.

He started his career in Greece as Product Specialist at the Marketing department of the world’s largest In Vitro Diagnostic Company. Later, as a Business Consultant, he provided consultation to numerous businesses on areas including Export Strategies, Business Planning, Business Development, Marketing Management, Quality Management Systems, as well as EU Funding Programs for companies.

Throughout his career, Dimitris has always been committed towards determining and fulfilling Business, Sales and Marketing goals for various companies, which are active mainly at the world of trade. Dimitris also co-founded 776 Deluxe Foods S.A. - an AEO certified company that produces and exports Greek Artisanal foods to countries around the world.

Mr. Raath is responsible for the Environment Programme, which encompasses various Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), such as the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (ODS); the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal; the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutions (POPs); the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Previously, Roux worked at the South African Revenue Service (SARS), where he held various positions, the last being Senior Specialist, Enforcement.

Nael Samha is the Director of Passenger Systems and Biometrics in the Targeting and Analysis Systems Program Directorate (TASPD) for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Information and Technology (OIT). Director Samha is currently leading the transformation of the Automated Targeting Systems including ATS-Passenger, ATS-Land, and Targeting Framework under the newly developed Unified Passenger System. Additional responsibilities includes the development of the Global Travel Assessment Systems and expansion of the current ATS-Global program. Director Samha is also leading the development of the Biometrics programs for CBP and DHS both domestically and Internationally.

Director Samha was recognized with a Samuel J. Heyman, Service to America Medal in 2012 as Homeland Security Medal recipient for a significant contribution to the nation in activities related to homeland security (including border and transportation security, emergency preparedness and response, intelligence, and law enforcement). He created a smartphone application that allows customs and border agents in the field to access law enforcement databases in real time, which has led to enforcement actions against drug traffickers, weapons smugglers, illegal aliens and potential terror suspects since March 2010.

Director Samha led the international Information sharing technical discussions for CBP/DHS with many International foreign partners, guiding technical design concepts to reality by implementing transparent and collaborative technical platforms across teams using the latest industry standards. These include the development and establishment of Pre-Clearance, Joint Security Programs, Information Advisory Program and Biometrics data sharing and verifications.

Director Samha also led the development and successful deployment of the first-in-government Biometrics program that enhances the Entry /Exit process and travel experience using the latest industry cloud and algorithm technologies. The CBP Commissioner and the Secretary of Homeland Security recognized him two consecutive years (2016-2018) for these accomplishments.

Director Samha graduated from George Washington University with Master of Science Information Technology and currently holds a Chief Information Officer (CIO) status presented by the U.S General Services Administration (GSA).

Phyllis Sekyi-Djan, an Assistant Commissioner of the Ghana Revenue Authority, is Head of Customs Laboratory.

Phyllis holds a BSC. (Hons) degree in Biochemistry and Food Science from the University of Ghana and is currently pursuing MBA. As a Scientific Customs Officer for thirty years, she has vast experience and has mentored and trained new employees of the Laboratory, as field officers at the Ports and Borders and as Analysts in the Central Laboratory. As Deputy Head of the Laboratory in 2018, she embarked on a Nationwide tour to Customs posts to introduce the newly acquired Mobile Laboratory Vans and sensitize officers, as part of the modernization strategy. She is passionate about the Laboratory’s progress and capacity building and hopes to increase visibility to all customs officers to ensure the Laboratory effectively executes its mandate as the Scientific Wing of the Customs Administration.

She is the Commissioner’s appointee to the Customs Ethics committee and is a board member of the National Biosafety Authority. Phyllis is the Customs representative on the National CODEX Committee and serves as a member of the National Committee on Ozone Depleting Substances and Pesticides Technical Committee of the 5th Governing Board of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ricardo Treviño has a Bachelor degree in Finance from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico and a Master’s degree in Global Banking and Finance from the University of Birmingham, UK.

With almost 20 years of career in public sector, he started in Mexico’s Federal Government at the Institute for Protection of Bank Savings in areas such as processes improvement, analysis of financial support and asset management.

He served as General Director for Revenue Collection at the State of Mexico’s Government where revenue collection tripled during his term. He also worked as General Director of the Social Security Institute of the State of Mexico, where he led a legal reform to strengthen the pension system.

In 2013 he joined the Federal Tax Administration Service as Administrator General of Evaluation and Internal Affairs, where he was responsible for developing actions to strengthen integrity and transparency in Customs procedures.

In 2015, he was appointed by the President of Mexico and ratified by the Senate as Head of Customs. During his tenure in office, Mr. Treviño promoted the digitalization of Customs procedures and cooperation with other border agencies. Through the implementation of technology and data analysis, the risk alert effectiveness increased impacting positively on revenue collection.

Since January 2018, Ricardo Treviño has taken over the position of Deputy Secretary General of the World Customs Organization after being elected by its Council. He is currently in charge among other matters, of leading the efforts to update the Organizations flagship tool: The Revised Kyoto Convention and of defining and following up on the Organization’s Strategic Plan for the period 2019-2022 including its strategic goals, priorities and deliverables.

As deputy Secretary General, he follows up on the correct implementation of WCO’s Strategic Plan, overseeing and coordinating the efforts done by the three directorates of the Organization: Compliance and Facilitation, Tariff and Trade Affairs and Capacity Building.

Mr Treviño is also in charge of the Research Unit which annually writes and publishes a variety of papers and study reports. This year, research is focusing on Free Trade Zones, Environmental Risk for Customs and the use of data science in customs procedures. He is also in charge of leading the work on developing a comprehensive mechanism that will allow customs administrations measure their performance.

Izaak joined the WCO Secretariat in 1997 from which he retired as Deputy Director, Tariff and Trade Affairs, in 2007. Before joining the Secretariat he worked from 1978 in the Dutch Ministry of Finance, dealing with the development and implementation of the Harmonized System.

From 2005 onwards he was facilitator in the WCO’s private sector training programme on Harmonized System, as well as the WCO’s annual Knowledge Academy for Customs and Trade.

From 1989 till present he is adaptor of the ‘Handboek voor in- en uitvoer’ (‘Handbook for imports and exports’), Section Combined Nomenclature – explanatory notes and rulings, a publication of Sdu, The Hague, The Netherlands. This handbook is used by Customs, private companies, institutes and other professionals in the field of international trade.