Inception meeting for the project on preventing trade mis-invoicing in selected African countries : meeting report

Abstract

The project on Preventing Trade Mis-invoicing in selected Africa Countries is among several ECA-led initiatives aimed at implementing the recommendations of the High Level Panel Report on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs). The Panel’s recommendations were endorsed by the 24th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in 2015. The Report underscored that trade mis-invoicing which involves the deliberate falsification of the value or volume of an international commercial transaction of goods and services, is the largest component of IFFs. The overall objective of the inception meeting is to initiate discussions towards the development and implementation of a capacity-building framework to address trade mis-invoicing at the country and regional level. More specifically, the meeting aims to gather perspectives and experiences from the selected countries to define priorities, and identify capacity gaps and needs in tackling trade mis-invoicing; Gain insights on the efficiency and effectiveness of existing regional and global tools and solutions as well as customs’ administrative practices for detecting and controlling trade mis-invoicing; Provide a platform to discuss the development of an appropriate capacity-building framework, including software tools, for addressing trade mis-invoicing at the country and regional level.