Among other things, the Secretariat is responsible for providing administrative support to the Management Committee, coordinating the activities of INCU members and affiliates, organising events, and liaising with the WCO and other stakeholders.
The INCU Secretariat is located in Canberra, Australia, in the heart of Australia’s political scene, approximately 500 metres from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 700 metres from the Australian Parliament House and just over 1 km from the Australian Prime Minister’s residence.
Our Team
Dr Mikhail Kashubsky
Head of Secretariat
Mikhail Kashubsky is an Associate Professor and Higher Degrees by Research (HDR) Coordinator at the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES), Charles Sturt University and a qualified Australian lawyer. Mikhail holds Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Laws, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Master of Laws and a PhD in law. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Customs Scientific Journal (CSJ), a member of the Board of Advisors of the Journal of Customs and Economics Review (JCER) and a member of the Advisory Council of the Global Trade Development Week (GTDW).
His areas of specialisation and research interests include international trade law, customs law, supply chain security, offshore oil and gas security, maritime security and law of the sea. In 2015, Mikhail was awarded the title of an Honorary Customs Officer of the Republic of Azerbaijan for cooperation with and contribution to Azerbaijan Customs Service.
Mr Jia-Yuan Yao
MEDIA OPERATIONS MANAGER
Mr Jia-Yuan Yao is a media and communication specialist. Yao worked at the Mail Inspection Section in China Customs and is in charge of media and public relations work in his section. From 2012 to 2016, Yao studied Customs Management at Shanghai Customs College and he has been working at the INCU Secretariat since 2015. In 2024, Yao obtained his master’s degree in political communication at University of Gothenburg.
In late 2017, Yao proposed the initiative to establish INCU Media Studio with the aim of promoting the INCU and its activities and improving the organisation’s communications and delivery of services and products to its membership base.
Mr Christoph Stemann
Membership Affairs Officer
Mr Christoph Stemann is a student of law at the University of Muenster, Germany. As a scholarship holder of the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung he supports the Institute of Customs and International Trade Law at the University of Muenster as Junior Researcher. Having passed the Foreign Law and Language Programme in “International Law” fully satisfactory as well as the university focus test in “Economy and Companies” he is currently in preparation for the first state exam.
In order to support the INCU Mr Stemann acts as Membership Affairs Officer of the Secretariat. He especially engages in the administration of membership applications and keeps in touch with applicants to conduct a successful admission to the network.