It was not a pure coincidence that the 1Oth General Assembly and the 48th Board meeting were planned in Venice. Indeed it all started in Venice twenty years ago when the pioneers of four associations of customs agents in the South of Europe decided to be united at the international level. In the very heart of the City of the Doges the Confédération internationale des agents en douane was founded on the 14th of may 1982. The initiators were the decision makers of the national customs brokers associations of Greece (OETE), Spain (Consejo general de los Colegios de agentes de aduana), Portugal (Camara dos despachantes oficiais) and Italy (Anasped). The common goal was clearly laid down in the initial statutes and defined during the early meetings. The search for international identity and representation was undoubtedly a first basic incentive that was going to become so overwhelmingly important three years after the foundation. In 1985 indeed, at the stage that Portugal and Spain joined the EU, a european White Paper towards a borderless and paperless Internal Market from 1993 on was paving the way to new future huge concerns for customs agents. In the meantime France joined Confiad's Euroclub for customs agents and Confiad nearly focussed in the eigthies and early nineties its entire attention to the consequences of the 1993 Internal Market, the biggest challenge in its history. The transition towards the Internal Market ,the endeavours to generate awareness of both the profession and the European Commission, as far as the risks were concerned of a borderless and paperless environment, are fixing the chapters of a two decades Confiad book that is not finished yet.

The history of Confiad is linked to the strategy of the European Commission and therefore divided in three periods:

- from 1982 to 1985:the launching of Confiad initiative

- from 1985 to 1993:the preparation to the Internal Market

- from 1993 to 2OO2:the consequences of the Internal Market and preparation to the forthcoming EU enlargement.

The book that the pioneers began to write in 1982 is, despite considerable challenges and concerns in the eigthies and early nineties, still a success story because at the end of 2OO1 and the beginning of 2OO2 Confiad already initiated its enlargement. New members in the candidate member states joined Confiad Paneuropean Network. Linking the know-how of the past with a current paneuropean preparedness of customs professionals to build up a new era is the proper way to-day to extend to the future the ideas developped by the pioneers twenty years ago. Some of them passed away, others are still involved. The vade-mecum “Confiad 1982-2OO2… Yesterday's and to-day's Challenges“ is designed as an historical synopsis only highlighting the main headings of twenty years of activities. This synopsis can be considered as a mark of honour for everybody who was and still is committed in Confiad representation. The main purpose was to sum up the culminating points in the history of Confiad in its early years,during the long and difficult preparation period towards the 1993 Internal Market,and since the borderless environment of the EU of 15 member states. Last but not least attention had to be paid to the most recent chapter: Confiad at the eve of the enlargement ready to meet the new challenges. The aim was not an exhaustive listing of all the activities and of all the people involved in these activities, but a definition of the impact of the birthday of an initiative that after twenty years is bringing people together again in the city where it all began. To-day with a look to a new european future.