7–9 October 2026, Jakarta, Indonesia

The 5th Meeting of the Heads of WCO Asia/Pacific Regional Customs Laboratories (RCLs) was held from 7 to 9 October 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia, hosted by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise of Indonesia. The meeting brought together the Heads and representatives of the region’s five RCLs — China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea — together with Malaysia Customs as an observer, the WCO Secretariat, the Asia/Pacific Vice-Chair’s Office (Hong Kong, China Customs, via video), the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) and the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO A/P). Over two days of sessions, followed by a visit to the Indonesia Customs laboratory in Jakarta, participants exchanged views on Harmonized System updates, laboratory management, human resource development for customs analysis, emerging drug trafficking trends, and practical ways to deepen cooperation among the region’s laboratories.

ROCB A/P delivered the Office’s initiatives and activities online. The presentation highlighted that ROCB A/P, serving the region’s 35 Member administrations with the support of China; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Korea and Thailand, aligns all its activities with the WCO Strategic Plan and the Regional Strategic Plan 2026–2028. Under the WCO’s new capacity building paradigm, the Office is placing greater emphasis on the full capacity building cycle — planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation — and on making WCO workshop delivery more effective. The report also introduced the new "Member Profile" initiative for evidence-based needs analysis, the recent Regional Training Centre Heads Meeting in Malacca, Malaysia, and the Office’s publications including the Compendium of Training Management.

By taking part in the RCL network, ROCB A/P continues to strengthen its liaison with professional bodies across the region, connecting their technical expertise with the Office’s capacity building programmes.

ROCB A/P’s participation in the RCL Heads Meeting underscores its role as the region’s capacity building hub — linking the region’s professional institutions more closely with WCO tools and programmes so that specialized expertise can be shared more widely across the Asia/Pacific Customs community.

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