In collaboration with the Vanuatu Department of Customs and Inland Revenue and United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD), the OCO organized an automation study visit for 10 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) (Cooks Islands, Federated State of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu) on 25-26 July,…
The Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) in collaboration with the Vanuatu Department of Customs & Inland Revenue (DCIR) organized a Regional PACER Plus Transparency Provision Workshop in Port Vila, Vanuatu from the 22-24 July, 2019. The workshop was opened by Mr. Harold Tarosa, DCIR. In his opening remarks, he emphasized that transparency and predictability of regulations…
(Excerpt: The Guardian Article, The new drug highway: Pacific Islands at center of cocaine trafficking boom, dated 24 June 2019) It is the drug route you’ve never heard of: a multi billion-dollar operation involving cocaine and methamphetamine being packed into the hulls of sailing boats in the US and Latin America and transported to Australia…
Download the 21st OCO Annual Conference Communique here
The 21st Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) annual conference commenced on 13th May, 2019 in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI), hosted by the CNMI Customs division with the theme “A united Pacific working towards a common solution”. The conference was opened with statements from the CNMI Director of Customs, Mr Jose Mafnas, Governor of…
OCO in partnership with the USPTO had 4 of its members attend an Asia Regional Workshop on Enforcement Against Trade in Counterfeit Food, Beverages, Cosmetics, and Fast Moving Consumer Goods, which was held on April 2-5, 2019, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and was co-organized and co-sponsored by the USPTO and the U.S. Department…
On the morning of February 26 2019, the Acting Governor Arnold I. Palacios touched base with the Oceania Customs Organisation Secretariat. Acting Governor Palacios met with Roy Lagolago, Head of Secretariat and Kalei Billings-Dugu, Human Resource & Logistics Coordinator. Director of Revenue and Taxation Dave Atalig, CNMI Div of Customs Service Director Joe Mafnas, Planner…
Under the PACER Plus Project Readiness Package, the OCO organized National PACER Plus Rules of Origin (ROO) Workshop in Samoa and Tonga on 6-7 December and 10-11 December respectively. The workshops were facilitated by two pre-accredited PACER Plus ROO Trainers Samoa and Tonga Customs Officials. The objective of the workshop was to deepen the knowledge…
The OCO organized the PACER Plus ROO Workshop in Kiribati on 12-13 March 2019 facilitated by two pre-accredited PACER Plus ROO Trainers from Kiribati Customs. The national workshop was the final part of the pre-accredited trainer’s assessment for qualification as an “OCO PACER Plus ROO Trainers.” During the Workshop, the participants learnt about ROO concept,…
More than 15 personnel from various law enforcement agencies, the Tax Department and Senior officials from the ANZ Bank underwent a National Workshop on Financial Crime in Kiribati from 17 to 21 February 2019. The training was conducted by OCO in collaboration with its law enforcement partner JIATF West. The overall aim of the workshop…
