With the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the Gambia has deposited the country’s instrument of Accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention, making it the 134th Contracting Party to the Convention.
Yankuba Darboe, the Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority and delegation attending the ongoing 2023 World Customs Organisation Council meeting in Brussels, made the deposit.
The Revised Kyoto Convention, also known as RKC, is an international Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures, which was entered into force on 3rd February 2006.
Dr. Mamadou Tangara, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, signed the Gambia’s Instrument of Accession letter.
The Gambia Revenue Authority was instrumental in the accession process, being the agency to spearhead the process on behalf of the Gambia Government.
The Gambia’s delegation is headed by Yankuba Darboe, the Commissioner General of The Gambia Revenue Authority, and includes, among others: Essa Jallow, Deputy Commissioner General and Head of Domestic Taxes; Alhagie K Mbaye, Commissioner of Customs; Alhagie Saihou Denton, former director of Finance and Accounting at GRA now Retired, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the West and Central Africa World Customs Organisation.
According to CG Darboe, the instrument of Accession embodies best practices of our national legislation, adding that its implementation would enable The Gambia to meet its international commitments concerning trade and border proceedings. He welcomed the Accession as a significant achievement for the country.
The Accession to the Convention is expected to improve and enhance trade facilitation, provide international trade with the predictability and efficiency required, and lay a solid foundation for reforming and strengthening the country’s customs legislations and standardizing them with WCO best practices.
Also invited to join the Gambia’s delegation at this important meeting is Pa Musa Jobarteh, the Gambian ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium and European Union.
At this meeting, delegates from about 185 countries also elected Mr. Ian Saunders from the United States as the new Secretary General of the World Customs Organisation for a five-year term, as the current Secretary General’s two-term has ended. Similarly, Mr. Edward Kieswetter, the Commissioner General of the South Africa Revenue Service, was elected Chairman of the WCO Council.
Last month, The Gambia Revenue Authority hosted the 29th Conference of Director Generals of the World Customs Organisation for the West and Central Africa Region under the theme “nurturing the next generation by promoting a culture of knowledge sharing and professional pride in customs.”
