The 43rd CIAT General Assembly was held in Santo Domingo, on April 20 to 23, sponsored by the General Directorate of Internal Taxes of the Dominican Republic. Participants included 34 delegations from member countries and associate member countries, as well as 16 delegations from other guest countries and observers from international organizations and institutions related to CIAT.

The success of this event, one of the most important in the Center’s activities agenda was not only due to the excellent organization and warm welcome afforded by the Dominican tax administration headed by its Director, Juan Hernandez Batista, but also the high technical level and contributions made through the  documents and presentations of the speakers, commentators and moderators.

The inaugural lecture was given by Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, Chief Economist of the Revenue and Customs Service of the United Kingdom, while the Final Comments were made by Paulo Sergio Dos Santos, former IMF and CIAT official.

At its Administrative Session held on April 21, the General Assembly of Representatives approved the Technical Resolution on the main theme of the event “A MODERN VISION OF THE TAX ADMINISTRATION”, which covers the recommendations on the subject made to all the tax administrations of the member and associate member countries.

In addition, the Assembly discussed and approved important institutional issues such as the Executive Secretariat’s management report, the activities plan and budget for the forthcoming fiscal period, as well as amendments to the Center’s Bylaws and Regulations.  The main changes involve the reduction from 10 to 5 years for an associate member country to opt for the category of member country, provided it fulfills the technical and objective conditions that determine said country’s active and continuous participation in the activities scheduled and carried out by CIAT.

Also, the winners of the 1st CIAT Contest on Innovation in the Tax Administrations were announced within the framework of the General Assembly. There were three categories and the winner in the Integrity and Transparency Area was the Federal Administration of Public Revenues of Argentina with the System: My Contributions. In the Effectiveness Area the winner was the Revenue Agency of the Ministry of Finance of Italy with the innovative practice entitled: “Procedure for the audit of banks and financial operations”. Thirdly, in the Efficiency Area, the Tax Administration Service of Mexico presented the Integral Solution of SAT. The 15 nominations that participated in the Contest will be published in the CIAT Web page.  Also, the rules for the 2010 Contest were disseminated among the member countries.

During the closing ceremony, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy invited the participants to the next CIAT Technical Conference to be held this year in Naples, on October 19-22.  In turn, the General Directorate of Taxation of Uruguay invited to the next CIAT General Assembly to be held in that country in the first semester of 2010; while France was confirmed as venue for the 2010 Technical Conference. The programs for these two latter events to be held in 2010 were approved at the Administrative Session.

Likewise, the Executive Secretary rendered tribute to the memory of Dr. Osiris de Acevedo López Filho, former Secretary of the Secretariat of Federal Revenues of Brazil and former CIAT Executive Council President, as well as to Dr. Hugo González Cano, international consultant of CIAT and other international organizations, both of whom recently passed away.

The General Assembly also elected the 2009-2010 Executive Council which is formed as follows:

President:
Juan Hernández Batista – Dominican Republic

Councilors:
Ricardo Echegaray – Argentina
Michael Crichlow – Bermuda
Néstor Díaz Saavedra – Colombia
Philippe Parini – France
Rudy Villeda – Guatemala
Alfredo Gutiérrez – Mexico
Julian López Ramírez – Netherlands Antilles
Nelson Hernández – Uruguay

In addition, the Executive Council announced to the General Assembly the election of Mr. Marcio Verdi, as next CIAT Executive Secretary, who will take over in January 2010. Mr. Verdi is currently the CIAT Director of Operations and will continue until taking over his new position.