Ian Saunders, the U.S. candidate nominated for secretary general of the World Customs Organization, stands in the foyer of the U.S. Department of State’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., after meeting with colleagues to discuss international trade issues. Photo by Diana Marvin. Graphic by Janice Swan-Jones.
It was big news in the trade community when Ian Saunders was nominated in January as the U.S. candidate to lead the World Customs Organization in Brussels as secretary general. The last time a U.S. official led the WCO, the customs equivalent to the United Nations, was 25 years ago.
Saunders is currently the deputy assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the International Trade Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce and has more than 30 years of experience in customs and international trade. He began his career as a student trainee at the former U.S. Customs Service, a CBP legacy agency, and worked his way up to leadership roles in the federal government’s Senior Executive Service. Along the way, he held senior positions at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Highway Administration. He was responsible for overseeing international policies, capacity building, information sharing and global technology exchange programs. Saunders led multiple U.S. delegations to the WCO and chaired the organization’s Permanent Technical Committee from 2018 to 2020 while serving as CBP assistant commissioner for International Affairs. He is...
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