With the sponsorship of the General Authority of Customs of Qatar, a WCO Sub-Regional Train-the-Trainer Workshop on Rules of Origin for the Gulf Council Cooperation (GCC) Members was held from 8 to 11 October 2015 in Doha, Qatar. The ROCB MENA coordinated the workshop that welcomed 21 participants from four GCC Member administrations, namely UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Representatives of the GCC Secretariat also attended the event.
The objective of the workshop was to deepen the knowledge and enhance the capacity of Customs officers from the GCC Member administrations in order to more effectively and efficiently undertake all issues related to Rules of Origin, and to train prospective trainers, capable of conducting training activities at regional level following the WCO standards.
The workshop introduced the importance of Rules of Origin and focused on technical details regarding the specific agreements relevant to the GCC Members (basic principles, particularities, general implementation of the free trade agreements) and other Rules of Origin topics unique to the GCC Customs Union. During the workshop, participants exchanged information, actively participated in workshop exercises, and shared their professional experiences based on actual cases.
The workshop concluded successfully with positive feedback from the participants who greatly appreciated the information and insights received from the facilitators and from each other.