Compliance management framework

Explanatory note: The compliance management framework has been developed for customs; however, practitioners from businesses may use this framework as well to design their compliance management system.

What is the customs compliance management framework?

A compliance management framework is a single operating framework that integrates the principal elements of customs risk and compliance management. It provides practitioners from customs administrations with a logical and systematic methodology for managing compliance in the customs context. 

What does the customs compliance management framework consist of?

According to Widdowson (2020)¹, the framework incorporates the key aspects of an effective risk-based compliance management strategy (see figure below), including:

• the law that is to be enforced;
• processes and procedures that regulate the way in which the law is applied;
• services to support the community’s ability to comply with the law;
• methods of assessing compliance with the law;
• processes for assessing risks of non-compliance with the law;
• techniques to mitigate identified risks;
• strategies to address the continuum of compliance behaviour.

¹Widdowson, D. (2020). Managing customs risk and compliance: an integrated approach. World Customs Journal, 14(2), p. 65.