What is Customs Enforcement and Compliance

Customs enforcement is concerned with the protection of society and fighting trans-national organized crime based on the principles of risk management. In discharging this mandate, Customs enforcement services are involved in a wide range of activities relating to information and intelligence exchange, combating commercial fraud, counterfeiting, the smuggling of highly taxed goods (especially cigarettes and alcohol), drug trafficking, stolen motor vehicles, money laundering, electronic crime, smuggling of arms, nuclear materials, toxic waste and weapons of mass destruction. Enforcement activities also aim to protect intellectual and cultural property and endangered species of plants and animals.

In order to assist its Members improve the effectiveness of their enforcement efforts and achieve a balance between control and facilitation, the WCO has developed a comprehensive technical assistance and training programme. In addition, it has established Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs) that are supported by a global database, the Customs Enforcement Network (CEN), to facilitate the exchange and use of information.

The WCO has also developed instruments for international co-operation in the form of the revised Model Bilateral Agreement (MBA), the Nairobi Convention which provides for mutual administrative assistance in the prevention, investigation and repression of Customs offences, and the Johannesburg Convention which provides for mutual administrative assistance in Customs matters. The WCO’s Customs Control and Enforcement programme therefore aims to promote effective enforcement practices and encourage co-operation among its Members and with its various competent partners and stakeholders.

In the context of the priorities laid down in the Strategic Plan, which are defined by the Members, the WCO is currently giving priority to other major new initiatives, one of them being the security and facilitation of the international trade supply chain

World trade stakeholders recognize that international trade is an essential driver for economic prosperity. The global trading system is vulnerable to terrorist exploitation that could severely damage the entire world economy.

As government authorities that control and administer the international movement of goods, Customs administrations are in a unique position to provide increased security to the global trade supply chain and to contribute to socio-economic development through revenue collection and trade facilitation. For these reasons, it was imperative for the WCO to develop a strategy that would secure the movement of global trade in a way that does not impede but, on the contrary, facilitates the movement of this trade.