7, 8 and 10 May 2019, Bangkok, Thailand

Under the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) project, a total of 11 officers from five revenue authorities of the East African Community (EAC), namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and two representatives from EAC Secretariat visited Thailand for a benchmarking study on IPR and Customs Control on 7, 8 and 10 May 2019. The program in Thailand covered lectures and discussions, among others, on the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and IPR border enforcement practices by Thai Customs Department. The participants also had an opportunity to visit Bangkok port to observe Thai Customs’ frontline practices. Ms. Saori Nojima, Program Manager of the ROCB A/P, took part in the program as one of the lecturers and led some sessions together with other resource persons from Thai Customs Department. She delivered presentations on the introduction to IPR, WCO’s IPR related activities, IPR’s possible impact and implications to the national economy, and the overview of the TRIPS Agreement.

Through the benchmarking study visit to Thailand, the participants reaffirmed the needs and importance of strengthening the IPR border enforcement in the EAC region by taking into account its impact to the economic development in the region as well as the threats on public health and safety, and intensively discussed possible way forwards. The participants expressed their heartfelt appreciation to the Thai Customs Department, resource persons and program coordinators for their guidance, support and hospitality.

For more information, please write to us at rocb@rocbap.org.