Countering global threats through standards, capacity building and cooperation

All of us remember where we were ten years ago on September 11, 2001 or 9/11 as it has become known. Th e violence of 9/11 changed the world forever and its ramifi cations were equally felt by the Customs and trade world. Security, in particular global trade security, became a priority policy objective and was enhanced as a vital component in Customs’ existing border protection portfolio to prevent such an attack from re-occurring. Moreover, the international Customs community successfully showed that security could be enhanced while facilitating legitimate trade at the same time. Th e actions of the WCO and its membership were and are essential to national and international security and economic prosperity.