Mette Werdelin Azzam
Ms Mette Werdelin Azzam is an independent Customs and Trade Agreement Specialist with rules of origin as her main expertise and passion.
She has previously worked 10 years as Senior Technical Officer in the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels, Belgium, as Head of Origin Sub-Directorate in the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate.
Ms Azzam 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 Ms Azzam was responsible for origin matters at the Customs Headquarter in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ms Azzam has an extensive theoretical and practical knowledge of rules of origin legislation, both in the preferential and the non-preferential areas.
Ms Azzam has more than 10 years of training experience within the fields of customs legislation and customs procedures. As Head of the WCO Origin Sub-Directorate she was responsible for Capacity Building and Technical Assistance activities mainly for developing countries in the area of origin legislation. She has conducted more than 50 capacity-building missions, including diagnostic assessments, advisory assistance, consulting and training workshops on rules of origin worldwide.
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Content by Mette Werdelin Azzam
AfCFTA: Towards harmonisation of rules of origin
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), approved in 2012 by the African Union’s (AU) 18th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government, is one of the Flagship Projects of the AU’s Agenda 2063. The Action Plan for Boosting intra-African trade has a strong focus on accelerating...
An introduction to Binding Origin Information
If an importer or exporter is unsure about the origin of their goods, or simply wants legal certainty, they can apply for a Binding Origin Information decision (BOI).A BOI, also referred to as an advance ruling on origin, is a written decision on the origin of the good, issued by...
A coffee break with… Mette Werdelin Azzam
This is the first “coffee break” article in our new series featuring thought leaders in the field of customs. Our guest is Mette Werdelin Azzam, a rules of origin geek who spent a decade at the World Customs Organization (WCO) as the Senior Technical Officer focusing on origin. She is...
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AfCFTA: Towards harmonisation of rules of origin
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), approved in 2012 by the African Union’s (AU) 18th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government, is one of the Flagship Projects of the AU’s Agenda 2063. The Action Plan for Boosting intra-African trade has a strong focus on accelerating...
An introduction to Binding Origin Information
If an importer or exporter is unsure about the origin of their goods, or simply wants legal certainty, they can apply for a Binding Origin Information decision (BOI).A BOI, also referred to as an advance ruling on origin, is a written decision on the origin of the good, issued by...
A coffee break with… Mette Werdelin Azzam
This is the first “coffee break” article in our new series featuring thought leaders in the field of customs. Our guest is Mette Werdelin Azzam, a rules of origin geek who spent a decade at the World Customs Organization (WCO) as the Senior Technical Officer focusing on origin. She is...