Navaratnas for top world Customs job
The World Customs Organisation is to have a new Secretary General from 1.1.2009, when the term of the present incumbent, Michel Danet will expire. The new Secretary General will be elected on 28th of this month. There are nine candidates in the fray. Look at some of the world leaders of Customs.
1. 59 year old Director of Customs, Hans van Bodegraven from Netherlands, had been a Customs Officer since 1976, can read, write and speak English, French and German very well. His Department collects more than half of the Dutch Revenue from taxes.
2. Boubacar Camara is just fifty years old and has a doctorate in Customs law, is a State Inspector General in Senegal. He was Senegal’s Director General of Customs from 2000 to 2004. He had been a soldier, a Merchant navy officer and in Customs, an examiner, inspector, Chief Inspector, investigator etc,. He is one of the founders of the International Academy of Advanced Studies in Security. He knows English, French and Arabic.
3. Sixty year old Noel Colpin is head of the Customs and Excise Administration of Belgium for the last five years and has 36 years experience in Customs. An MBA, who knows English, French and German, he has vast international experience.
4. 44 year old Lars Karlsson is the Deputy Director General of the Swedish Customs Service. Knows English and French.
5. 43 year old Philippe Arnaud joined Customs in 1995 and is now Deputy Director of International Trade, in the French Customs. He speaks English and German.
6. Jouko Juhani of Finland joined the Customs as an Inspector in 1985 and has been the Customs Counsellor, Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU, since 2007.
7. 54 year old English and French speaking Kunio Mikuriya of Japan had been a Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, since 2002. Before that he was Director: International Affairs, Customs and Tariff Bureau, Ministry of Finance (MOF), Japan. If appointed, he wants to create a centre for excellence in Customs matters.
8. 60 year old Douglas Tweddle from UK is Director, Customs in the HM Revenue and Customs in the UK.. He was the Customs Chief at the busiest international airport in the world. He was a Director in WCO for five years and delivered the Revised Kyoto Convention.
9. 53 year old Gaozhang Zhu from People’s Republic of China knows English, Freench, German and Russian. He joined the Customs in 1982 and is now the Director General, Department of International Cooperation