09/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - At the conference of the EastWest Institute chaired by John Edwin Mroz, which took place in Brussels on 7 and 8 February on the theme “Protecting people and infrastructure: achievements, failures and future tasks”, the president of the World Customs Organisation Council, Pravin Gordhan, stressed how greatly international terrorism affects customs organisations throughout the world. However, he said, “the international customs community has risen to the challenge (…) and developed its Framework to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade”. We must also take a closer look at Internet use, he said. Detlef Eckert of Microsoft said that the “IT industry will continue to develop better technologies to make the online world more secure, but we cannot do it alone. To succeed in ensuring a safer Internet for all, we need creative partnerships with governments and NGOs”. The former European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Antonio Vitorino, and High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, also took part in the conference, as did representatives of the United States, Russia and the Middle East. (For Mr Solana's speech, see EUROPE of 8 February, p.4).