The Maldives Customs Service (MCS) held a national level Expert Mission, in collaboration with the World Customs Organization Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (WCO ROCB A/P), to develop a training kit for use by MCS trainers in sustainable capacity-building activities to improve Customs valuation control in the Maldives, ideally through PCA and risk management. The Expert Mission was supported by technical assistance from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In 2013, ADB and WCO ROCB A/P launched a joint subregional train-the-trainer on Customs valuation multiyear assistance initiative to support participating countries’ efforts to strengthen efficient management of Customs valuation control through the use of post-clearance audit. The first WCO-ADB Joint Subregional Workshop was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February 2014, and the second Joint Subregional Workshop was held in Male, the Maldives 22–24 October 2014. SASEC provides a regional platform for this multiyear initiative through implementation of the SASEC Trade Facilitation Strategic Framework, approved by members in 2014.

This national level Expert Mission focused on developing training materials to be used by MCS in onward training of Customs personnel. It comprised:

• Observation of MCS to identify Customs valuation processes for improvement, together with recommended countermeasures;

• Agreement on three syllabus for model training courses, including the outline of specific training materials; and 

• Preliminary decisions and preparations for the second national level activity under the WO-ADB multiyear initiative, to be held in January 2016.

The Expert Mission was conducted by MCS together with resource persons from WCO ROCB A/P, and Sri Lanka Customs. About 12 officials from MCS are expected to participate in the process.