Scientific Board Biographies

The PICARD Scientific Board is composed of experts from across the Customs spectrum. They are tasked with reviewing PICARD submissions and evaluating them according to strict and rigorous criteria.

Christopher Grigoriou joined the CERDI, University of Auvergne, in 2007 as an Associate Professor in Economics and Econometrics. Currently on leave, he is working in Geneva as consultant, for international institutions including the IMF, World Bank and UNCTAD, on international trade, customs reforms and tax administration matters. He is also an invited professor at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP, Lausanne University), where he teaches econometric modelling in the field of public finance. He is currently conducting research on international trade (including electronic trade), illicit cross-border trade, and risk management for government services.

Cyril Chalendard is an Associate Programme Officer at the International Trade Centre (joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations) in Geneva, Switzerland. He works on the African Trade Observatory, a project aiming at monitoring and facilitating trade and economic integration in Africa. He holds a PhD in Development Economics from CERDI, France. His research areas include customs valuation, risk management, tax evasion, collusion, trade facilitation and profit shifting.

David Widdowson AM is CEO of the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies at Charles Sturt University, President of the International Network of Customs Universities and Editor-in-Chief of the World Customs Journal. He has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to higher education in the field of international trade and customs.

Juha Hintsa is the founder and CEO of Cross-Border Research Association and a well-known researcher, lecturer and consultant in supply chain security and global trade facilitation, with some 30 projects and 70 publications on these topics. He currently coordinates two EU-projects, with 15 Customs administrations as partners: Customs security innovation network (www.pen-cp.net) and big data for Customs risk management (www.profile-project.eu ). Mr. Hintsa holds a PhD in management from HEC University of Lausanne.

Kenji Omi is a Technical Attache at Research unit, Office of Secretary General, World Customs Organization. His research fields so far includes the issue of free zones and waste control at border by Customs. Before coming to the WCO, he served in various fields in Japan Customs, including rules of origin, international merchandise trade statistics, and intellectual property rights enforcement at border. He holds a master of public administration degree from Cornell university. He is a certified public accountant (inactive) licensed in the United States.