The WCO has announced that its secretary general, Kunio Mikuriya, has been re-elected for a five-year term with effect from 01 January 2019.
Before taking up his position as WCO secretary general in 2009, Mikuriya spent seven years as the WCO deputy secretary general, leading efforts to coordinate the secretariat’s work in partnership with other international organisations such as the WTO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as with the private sector.
Prior to joining the WCO, Mikuriya spent 25 years in Japan's ministry of finance, occupying a variety of senior posts which gave him broad experience in Customs-related issues, trade development, budgetary matters and financial policies, including expertise in the WTO’s international trade negotiations.
Mikuriya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Tokyo (Japan) and a PhD in International Relations from the University of Kent, in the United Kingdom.