Articles

Digital techology is reinventing how people live and work. The change is rapid and far reaching. The prevalence of digital goods and services means that Customs agencies are challenged to make … policy, process and technology changes to address digital’s disruptive impact on national and fiscal security.

The news earlier this year that a 3D-printed gun had been successfully test-fired has brought traditional threat detection measures under renewed scrutiny. There is little point bringing a metal … detector to a plastic gunfight. Once again the emergence of a new threat is driving security agencies to look to new solutions. One such solution is terahertz imaging – an entirely passive technology that can detect threats or contraband concealed under a person’s clothing and at a safe standoff distance. This capability is already in use with early-adopter organizations from the military, policing and Customs communities, across the United States, Europe and Asia. The emergence of the ‘do-it-yourself’ (DIY) gun has sharpened the focus even more tightly on counter-measures that can detect body-borne contraband and weapons of all kinds.

In the decades since the first Single Windows (SWs) opened in Singapore and Sweden, national SW implementations by Customs focused on simplifying the interactions of traders with government, … ultimately achieving a single point and moment of interaction for data submission by traders and for clearance decisions by government. Building on the same skills as those required for SWs, leading Customs administrations have enhanced their border clearance operating model with four best practices: streamlined inter-agency workflow; account-based Customs practices; segmented clearance classes; and cross-functional intervention teams. This article suggests that by combining these four best practices with the traditional SW, a best practices operational model for collaborative border management (CBM) can be realized [Editor’s note: the WCO has adopted the term ‘Coordinated Border Management’ when referring to this approach].

Combating counterfeiting and piracy is a priority area of work for Customs administrations today. However, the knowledge base, which Customs needs to be able to identify quickly whether a product … is genuine or not, is in the hands of the private sector. The challenge for both Customs authorities and rights holders is the expeditious sharing and communication of updated product information in an eff ective and systematic manner.

At the core of any Customs risk analysis system is the checking of cargo manifests, the shipping document that summarizes all bills of lading that have been issued by a carrier or its representative.

This year, the WCO is publishing its fi rst edition of the WCO Illicit Trade Report. Th e Report, which will be issued annually, is a break from tradition, as the Organization previously produced … three separate annual reports on drugs, Intellectual Property Rights and tobacco respectively. Th e new Report comprises six chapters, each dedicated to a single thematic area: Drugs; Revenue; Intellectual Property Rights; Environment; Security; and the Customs Enforcement Network.

During the117th/118th Sessions of the WCO Council in June 2011, WCO Members were invited to discuss the issue of evolving and emerging risks in the Customs and cross-border context. One outcome … that gained unanimous support was the need for intensifi ed action to combat the destabilizing impact of illicit trade on Customs administrations.

From the sale of fake goods on the Internet, the trade in illegal logging and the smuggling of high-tax goods to banks laundering money, museums purchasing stolen artefacts and traffi ckers running … drugs, illicit trade manifests itself in many forms. Th ere is, in particular, one recurring theme: the economic, political and social impact of illicit trade is highly detrimental to countries, businesses and the public.

It is February 2012 at the Port of Guayaquil in Ecuador. A container fi lled with boxes of yucca roots bound for Belgium is selected for checking and unloaded. Concealed inside the boxes, among … the yucca roots, are packets of cocaine weighing 3,668 kg in total.

“Countries are already starting to see cases of illicit trade in hydrochlorofl uorocarbons or HCFCs and it is critically important that we get ahead of the problem and remain vigilant.”

The plundering of cultural property is one of the oldest forms of organized crossborder crime and has become a worldwide phenomenon transcending frontiers. Several initiatives have been devised … by international organizations involved in preventing and combating this illegal traffi cking. A programme named ARCHEO has notably been developed by the WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Offi ce for Western Europe, with a view to enhancing Customs offi cers’ knowledge in this domain, especially those working for enforcement and intelligence services. Its main objective is to help Customs administrations fi ght this fraud at the operational level.

The international community has been successful in limiting the traffi cking in precursor chemicals in what were once the principal markets. Existing tools for international cooperation and information … exchange have actually been so successful that they have forced traffi ckers to look for new, non-controlled substances and to seek out new sources. Th ese developments represent new challenges especially for Customs authorities.

Thanks to its speed, expediency and anonymity, Internet-based technology has become one of the key facilitators for a vast range of criminal activities, many falling within the remit of Customs … enforcement actions, including the trade in counterfeit products, goods subject to prohibitions and restrictions and the smuggling of excisable goods, such as cigarettes and alcohol.

As stockpiles of confi scated ivory have ballooned over the years, two burning questions remain. How should governments manage their stockpiles and what should they do with seized material?

Given its cash-intensive and profitable nature, the illicit trade in tobacco is prone to money laundering. But according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), jurisdictions tend to predominantly … investigate and prosecute the predicate off ence only and very few money laundering and/ or terror fi nancing cases can be associated with the illicit tobacco trade. Th is needs to change and we need to recognize that it is a signifi cant money laundering and terror fi nancing threat, says FATF, the world’s fi nancial crime watchdog.

International trade has constituted the bedrock of a long period of prosperity and stability in the world. In general, trade is crucial to the development of countries. It is a fi rst, supporting … step on the ladder to building an economy and a key driver for economic growth and development.