Global Forum delivers exchange of information training for ECOWAS member states and Mauritania

 

03/02/2023 - Within the framework of the Programme d'Appui à la Transition Fiscale en Afrique de l'Ouest (PATF) funded by the European Union (EU), 33 tax officials from the 15 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Member States, from Mauritania and from the ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commissions met in Abidjan, from 29 January to 1 February 2023, for a three-day seminar organised by the Secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum).

This training focused on the connection between the domestic tax investigations, the information gathering framework and the international infrastructure for exchange of information (EOI). Participants were introduced to key concepts of transparency and EOI through a series of presentations, quiz exercises and an EOI simulation. This activity encouraged them to make an effective use of EOI tools by improving the quality of outgoing requests and replies to their treaty partners. The training strengthened awareness among participants that protection of domestic revenue is closely linked with the effective use of their EOI network.

This capacity-building activity comes in addition to other actions led by the Global Forum under the PATF to provide regional legal instruments implementing more transparency in the sub-region.

PATF aims to support the implementation of fiscal transition programmes in West Africa following the implementation of regional trade liberalisation policies. Funded by the EU, it covers the fifteen member states of the ECOWAS and Mauritania and runs from 2020 to 2023. Under the PATF, the Global Forum supports the ECOWAS Member States, Mauritania and the ECOWAS and WAEMU Commissions to enable them to better combat tax evasion and other illicit financial flows in order to mobilise domestic resources and improve tax transparency.

The Global Forum is the leading multilateral body mandated to ensure that jurisdictions around the world adhere to and effectively implement both the exchange of information on request standard and the standard of automatic exchange of information. These objectives are achieved through a robust monitoring and peer review process. The Global Forum also runs an extensive capacity-building programme to support its members in implementing the standards and help tax authorities make the best use of cross-border information sharing channels.

For more information, please contact gftaxcooperation@oecd.org