Special – Brussels.

The annual meetings of the 145th and 146th sessions of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Council, held in the Belgian capital Brussels from June 26 to 28, 2025, with the participation of 186 member countries, concluded on Saturday.
The Republic of Yemen participated with a delegation headed by YCA chairman Mr.Abdulhakim Radman al-Qubati.

During the three-day meeting, the participants discussed several topics and activities that concern the modernization of customs work at the international level, most notably the promotion of digital transformation, artificial intelligence applications in customs procedures, and the topic of integration between the authorities related to international customs work.

The meetings also discussed reforms to the voting system within the organization. At the conclusion of the meetings, Mr. Bashir Aboyala of Nigeria was elected President of the WCO Council for the coming year, in addition, the chairs of the Policy, Finance and Audit Committees were also elected

The delegation held several bilateral meetings with the Secretary-General of the Organization, Mr. Ian Saunders, and his deputy, Mr. Ricardo Treviño, where they discussed support for the Yemeni Customs Authority.

He also held bilateral meetings with the Directors general of customs in Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt and Kuwait to discuss strengthening bilateral customs relations between the Republic of Yemen and these countries, especially joint coordination in the field of anti-smuggling, capacity building and information exchange.

The meetings were attended by Fadel Alban, Director General of International Relations and Cooperation, and Luay Ghalib, First Secretary at the Yemeni Embassy in Brussels.