On 6 September 2013, the Ambassador of the Republic of Malawi, Her Excellency Dr. Brave Ndisale, visited WCO Headquarters to deposit her country’s instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention - RKC). Malawi has thus become the 91st Contracting Party to the RKC.
The Ambassador conveyed a message from the President of Malawi, Dr. Joyce Banda, expressing appreciation for the WCO’s assistance, as well as the hope that accession to the RKC will contribute to improving Malawi’s business environment. Secretary General Mikuriya had met the President in Blantyre on the occasion of the Meeting of Heads of Customs for the East and Southern Africa Region in May this year, when he had encouraged accession to the RKC.
The Secretary General pledged his on-going support for Malawi where the WCO had recently conducted a national trade policy dialogue involving Customs, business and other government agencies.
During the dialogue between Secretary General Mikuriya and Ambassador Ndisale, several important issues were discussed, including the key role of Customs in revenue collection, trade facilitation, regional integration and combating the illicit traffic in tobacco and tobacco products.