UNPARALLELED EXPERTISE
Bryce Blegen
Bryce Blegen is CEO of Trusted Trade Alliance LLC, as well as President of MIC Customs Solutions, responsible for MIC’s activities in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Mr. Blegen came to MIC from Delphi, where he served as Global Customs Counsel and Regional Director of Customs, Europe since early 2001. Prior to joining Delphi, Mr. Blegen spent 10 years at Robert Bosch, as Senior Counsel in the company’s central legal department at Bosch’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and prior to that as Manager, International Trade and Assistant General Counsel for Bosch’s North American operations.
As one of the few U.S. attorneys specializing in global customs compliance and trade issues, Mr. Blegen has been active in spearheading customs simplification and trade facilitation initiatives in the U.S., Mexico, Europe and China, working closely with trade associations and government officials. He has been a member of the Legal and Transition/Software Committees of US Customs and Border Protection’s Trade Support Network since 2004.
Mr. Blegen received a Juris Doctor and a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Denver in 1989. He was admitted as an attorney in Illinois in 1990, and is fluent in English and German.
Creck Buyonge
Creck Buyonge is the Manager, East and Southern Africa Regional Office of the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies, University of Canberra based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining CCES, Creck was a senior manager in the Kenya Revenue Authority, including Deputy Commissioner (Policy & Legislation) in the Customs Services Department.
While at KRA, Creck was the Secretary to the Customs Valuation Appeals Tribunal, Project Manager in the East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project, and Alternate Director to the Commissioner of Customs Services at the Board of the Export Processing Zones Authority. He was the principal contact for the African Union, World Customs Organization (WCO), WTO, World Bank, East African Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
He is a founding member of the WCO East and Southern Africa Regional Steering Group, and participated actively towards the establishment of the WCOESA Regional Office for Capacity Building. He has represented Kenya as a delegate to the WCO, specifically in the High Level Working Group on Capacity Building, the Task Force on Security and Facilitation of the International Trade Supply Chain, the Integrity Sub-Committee, the Policy Commission and Council. Twice elected as Vice Chairman of the WCO Permanent Technical Committee (2006/2007), Creck has attended numerous regional and international customs conferences and meetings as a participant and speaker.
David Widdowson
Professor David Widdowson is a specialist consultant in customs and international trade facilitation. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies, University of Canberra and founder and co-director of the International Network of Customs Universities. David is also a Professor of International Trade and Customs Law, and Editor-in-Chief of the World Customs Journal
David has 30 years experience in his field of expertise. He served with the Australian Customs Service for 21 years, including seven years in the Senior Executive Service. As the highest-ranking senior executive responsible for compliance management, he introduced new cultural, operational and structural approaches to managing risk and compliance that are now regarded as international benchmarks.
David has undertaken a series of major reviews of cargo management systems throughout Asia, Australasia, the Pacific and Africa and has gained extensive knowledge and experience in many countries through customs modernisation studies, capacity building programs, policy reviews, trade facilitation reviews, risk management, compliance management, and change management programs, IT systems development, legislative reform programs, self-assessment regimes, organisational and structural reform programs, business process reengineering and training, education and development programs.
Qualifications
David is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He holds a PhD in Customs Management, a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. David’s doctoral thesis examines the use of risk management principles and practices by customs administrations to maximise both international trade facilitation and regulatory control.
Geoff Short
Geoff Short is a specialist international trade lawyer. A highly acclaimed trade advocacy consultant, Geoff is based in Sydney, Australia. Geoff has over 35 years experience in his area of expertise, including senior positions in government and private enterprise, dealing with legal aspects of international trade.
His career has included positions as Director, Legal Branch, Australian Customs Service; Senior Consultant in indirect tax with global accounting firm Touche Ross (now Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu); and Partner with international law firm, Baker & McKenzie - experience which has enabled him to develop a comprehensive knowledge of international trade regulation along with expert government relations skills.
Geoff maintains extensive business and government networks within Asia through regular client assignments in the region and through his active membership of key regional and international business councils. He advises numerous multinational corporations on their market access and trade compliance strategies across a range of industry sectors including agriculture, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, construction and industrial goods.
He is Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Canberra and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also a member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, the Trade and Government Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce, the Executive Committee of the New South Wales-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and the Australia-China Business Council.
Geoff holds Bachelors degrees in Law and Economics from the Australian National University and a Master of Laws from the University of Technology, Sydney. He is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court, a Solicitor of the New South Wales Supreme Court and as a Barrister of the Federal Court of Australia and the High Court of Australia.
George Grace
George Grace is an Associate Director of the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies at the University of Canberra. Based in Perth Australia, George is a specialist consultant in Customs and international trade facilitation with a wide understanding of international Customs policies, practices and procedures.
During a career of over 25 years with the Australian Customs Service, George worked at a regional, national and international level. He represented Australia in World Customs Organization, World Trade Organization and Australia Group meetings. In 1995 and 1996, George was chairman of the Working party to the WCO Permanent Technical Committee.
George has extensive experience at a Customs operational level and across a range of areas with a principal focus on Customs compliance, profiling and targeting and border enforcement. He spent six years as a regional Customs Director, in that time, managing all areas of Customs business.
In his work at the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies, George has developed and delivered international trade and Customs training, both face-to-face and on-line, for Customs administrations and multi-national companies. The key focus of this training is the achievement of regulatory compliance and commercially beneficial trade facilitation outcomes.
Hans-Michael Wolffgang
Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang is a co-shareholder and partner of the AWB Tax Consultancy Ltd., based in Münster, Germany and a senior advisor and consultant to MK Technology, export control consultancy services based in Washington D.C.
He is a professor of international trade and tax law and head of the Department of Customs and Excise which forms part of the Institute of Tax Law at the University of Münster, Germany. Additionally, he is a co-shareholder of the affiliated AWA Foreign Trade Academy, where he specialises in customs and export control law. The AWA is a leading training institute for international trade and has affiliates in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland.
A former member of the German customs administration and former fiscal advisor to Germany's Federal Fiscal Supreme Court, Prof. Dr. Wolffgang is a board member of Centre of International Trade Law at the University of Münster. He also is Editor-in-Chief of the AW Prax, a leading journal of external trade and customs law in German-speaking countries and the chairman of the EFA European Forum for External Trade, Excise and Customs.
Prof. Dr. Wolffgang has written extensively on international trade law, customs law and export controls in Europe. His areas of research include regional trade associations such as free trade zones and customs unions throughout the world. Prof. Dr. Wolffgang acts as an advisor to German and international enterprises concerning export and trade controls, international customs and other aspects of trade law and practice. In addition to his academic work, he has been the leader of expert teams providing technical assistance and capacity building to governments in Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Palestine, Serbia, Southern and Eastern Africa and elsewhere in relation to customs and excise and other international trade issues.
Kelby Woodard
Kelby Woodard, TII Principal, spent eleven (11) years with a mass retailer located in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the Director of Supply Chain Assets Protection. In this capacity, he and his team were instrumental in providing supply chain security expertise to the legacy US Customs Service in the months and years following the attacks of September 11th. The result of these consultations was the formation of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. His employer was one of the seven charter members of C-TPAT and has maintained a leadership position in defining new criteria and standards as a result of his efforts. Mr. Woodard also managed the Operation Safe Commerce project and Smart Box testing and has worked on several projects focused on the use of RFID technology to secure global commerce.
Mr. Woodard was responsible for a global security team that focused on risk analysis and mitigation strategies spanning a supply chain spread throughout 84 countries. He and his team were also responsible for significantly reducing cargo theft issues within the United States and providing assets protection services to 28 distribution centers.
Prior to his employment in Minneapolis, he served with the US Customs Service in Washington, DC. Mr. Woodard holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Dallas and Certificate of Global Security Management from Georgetown University.
Matthias Merz
Educated in the law at the University of Muenster where he has taught law and related subjects, since 1997 Matthias Merz has been the Managing Director (CEO) of the well-known AWA Foreign Trade Academy training institute. Based in Muenster and known by its German title AWA AUSSENWIRTSCHAFTS-AKADEMIE, the AWA is a leading organizer of export controls, customs- and tax-related seminars and compliance training in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary.
Matthias Merz has lectured extensively on Export Controls, Customs Law and company compliance programs in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Switzerland, The Netherlands and in the United Kingdom.
Prior to establishing the AWA, Matthias Merz conducted research and did other academic work in Tax and Public Law at the Institute for International and European Law at the University of Muenster. While managing the AWA in 1998-2001, he also was Academic Assistant to Professor Dr. Stefan Kadelbach at the Chair for International Public Law in that well-known Institute. In addition to teaching at the State of Westphalia's Administrative Academy in Bielefeld, he worked closely at the Chair for Public Law in Muenster with Professor Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang at the Institute of Tax Law at Muenster University. Prof. Dr. Wolffgang now is co-shareholder with him in the AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (Tax Consultancy Company) and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, "AW-Prax" (Aussen-Wirtschaftliche-Praxis or Foreign Trade Practice). Matthias is Editor-in-Chief of the monthly published journal "Der Zollprofi" (The Customs Professional).
The AWA is co-located with AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (Tax and Foreign Trade Law Consultancy) in Muenster in Germany. The AWB was co-founded in 2005 and headed by Matthias Merz and Prof. Dr. Wolffgang as partners. In addition to customs and tax matters, the AWB assists clients to establish and maintain Trade Compliance processes and operations, including training, Control Plans, and related aspects of global trade controls as well as structures to comply with the AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) challenges.
With his base in the AWA and AWB in Muenster, since 2000 Matthias Merz has been Managing Director of AWA SUISSE GmbH, based near Zurich, and since 2001 of AWA AUSTRIA GmbH in Linz. Since 2003 he also has been a Partner with Hannl, Nagy & Partners which manages AWA HUNGARY in Budapest. The AWA branches provide training and seminars in each of the before mentioned countries.
Michael Laden
Michael Laden, CFO of Trusted Trade Alliance LLC and TII Principal, brings more than twenty five (25) years of experience in the area of customs compliance matters, recently as the President of a customs brokerage firm operating exclusively for and inside of a mass retailer. Mr. Laden has been a licensed US Customs Broker since 1981. He served the maximum two term limit on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) providing advice on customs matters to the US Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security. He is a member of the CBP Trade Support Network (TSN) which is currently designing the next CBP computer architecture known as ACE (Automated Commercial Environment). He was the executive sponsor of a self-filing program for customs entries (>200,000 entries annually) and helped a mass retailer achieve the coveted ISA designation. With his organization being one of the first seven companies involved, Mr. Laden is also credited with being a forerunner in the development of the US C-TPAT program.
Mr. Laden is a recognized expert in the customs compliance and the supply chain regulatory environment. He was a founding and charter member of the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization. He has served on the Board of Governors for the American Association of Exporters and Importers since 1988, and is a past Chairman. He has been active as a member of the World Customs Organization’s Private Sector Consultative Group.
Rob Preece
Rob Preece is an experienced consultant in the area of trade and customs law and administration, specializing in compliance techniques. Rob is an Associate Director with the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies and is based in Bangkok Thailand with coverage of South East Asia.
Rob has 24 years experience in the trade and customs field. His experience includes some 15 years in the Australian Customs Service primarily in area of industry compliance, and as an international trade consultant with global professional service firms Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Rob has had significant exposure to the food and beverage, tobacco and fuel industries. Rob currently advises a number of global businesses, and regional government agencies in trade and customs matters, and enjoys excellent relations with regulatory agencies across South East Asia.
Rob holds both a Masters of International Customs Law and Administration, and a Bachelor of Arts (Criminal Justice).
Rogelio Cruz Vernet
Rogelio Cruz Vernet is the Principal of Customs Trade Solutions Latin America, SC, a consulting firm focused on trade compliance and supply chain security in Latin America. He is also a Partner at the firm Chevez and Cruz Vernet, SC in Mexico City, responsible for the firm’s customs and trade practice. Prior to Chevez, he had served as Mexican Customs Counsel for Delphi, where he was very active in spearheading customs simplification and trade facilitation initiatives in Mexico. Prior to joining Delphi, Mr. Cruz Vernet spent 12 years at Basham, Ringe and Correa as Senior Associate in the customs and international trade department in Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. He was admitted as an attorney in Mexico in 1994, and received a Law Degree from the La Salle University Mexico City. Mr. Cruz Vernet also has a Diploma in Tax Law from Universidad Panamericana and a Diploma of Legal Framework of Foreign Trade from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de México. Mr. Cruz Vernet is the designated legal advisor to and responsible for the coordination of the Customs and Logistics Committee of the Mexican Foreign Trade Council (COMCE), Northeast Chapter, in Monterrey, and is a founding member of the Mexican Foreign Trade Executive Officers Institute. He is also a member of the Texas-Mexico Bar Association, and of the Mexican Bar Association. Languages: Spanish and English.
Areas of practice: Customs law and foreign trade, Fiscal-customs litigation, procedures against unlawful foreign trade practices (antidumping) and lobbying with respect to foreign trade legislation.
Steve Holloway
Steve Holloway is a Director of the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies within the University of Canberra, an Adjunct Professor in the University’s School of Law and co-author of the University of Canberra’s postgraduate programs in International Customs Law & Administration.
Steve first joined the Australian Customs Service in 1984 as an in-house lawyer with the Legal Services Branch. During his time in Australian Customs he had management responsibility for a number of areas including Legislation and International as a Director and on appointment to the Senior Executive, Business Systems and Compliance. At the time of his departure from Australian Customs Steve was the National Manager, Compliance.
Steve is a lawyer with particular expertise in customs, international trade and logistics, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, information technology project management and electronic commerce. He has had some 22 years experience in customs and international trade issues.
Qualifications
Steve holds an LLB from the Australian National University and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the ACT Supreme Court and a Barrister of the Federal and High Courts of Australia.
