Following an invitation from the National Revenue Authority (NRA), and further to the Mercator Implementation Plan for Sierra Leone, the WCO successfully facilitated a strategic planning workshop in Freetown from 7 – 13 September 2016. The workshop took place under the framework of the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD TFA Capacity Building Programme with the generous financial support of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom.
The main objective of the workshop was to review and redraft the NRA’s 2018 – 2022 Strategic Plan to fully integrate Customs reform, modernization and trade facilitation, including the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA). The revised strategic plan supports both the NRA’s core mandate of contributing to the development of country through robust trade facilitation, improved revenue generation and improved institutional reforms supported by appropriate technology, and increases the NRA’s focus on strategic and human resources management as key enablers of its forward agenda, while taking account of lessons learned from the current 2013 – 2017 Strategic Plan.
The workshop-style dialogue included 31 senior NRA officials along with relevant representatives of other border agencies and the local private sector. Participants were familiarised with methodologies and benefits of strategic management and planning and of effective performance measurement. The workshop established the foundations for continued effective collaboration with Sierra Leone through the tailor-made track of the WCO Mercator Programme.