Mette Werdelin Azzam Lead Origin ExpertWorld Customs Organization

METTE AZZAM holds a position as Lead Origin Expert in the EU-WCO Rules of Origin for Africa Programme, which is an initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by the World Customs Organization to support the African continent to improve its capacity to deal with Rules of Origin and ultimately to support the harmonised and coordinated implementation and application of the Rules of Origin under Annex 2 of the AfCFTA in compliance with other international commitments and best practices, including the Economic Partnership Agreements. She has worked as Head of the Origin Sub-Directorate at the World Customs Organization for 10 years, as responsible for technical assistance to WCO Members in the area of Origin as well as for the technical part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations in the Harmonization of Non-Preferential Rules of Origin within the Technical Committee on Rules of Origin (TCRO) under the auspices of the WCO. She was the WCO liaison officer in the meetings of the WTO Committee on Rules of Origin (CRO) in Geneva. She holds a Higher Technical Certificate in international business (BTS de commerce international) from a business school in Paris, France. She graduated from the Danish Customs and Tax College in 2000 and has been working in the Danish Customs Administration until February 2008 where she was posted in Brussels as Danish Customs Attaché. From December 2005 to January 2008 she was responsible for origin matters at the Customs Headquarter in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mette has an extensive theoretic and practical knowledge of rules of origin legislation, both in the preferential and the non-preferential areas. She has several years of training experience within the fields of customs legislation and customs procedures. As Head of Origin Sub-Directorate she was responsible for Capacity Building and Technical Assistance activities mainly for developing countries in the area of origin legislation.