Revenue collection, national security, trade facilitation, community protection, and collection of trade statistics are the traditional roles of Customs. 

In the era of globalization characterized by instability and the ever-present threat of terrorist activity,   the World Customs Organization (WCO) intends to play a more important role in the area of security. The presence of Customs at the land, sea and air borders allows the organization to play this role. Besides its internationally acknowledged activity in combating counterfeiting, daily, the WCO strengthen its cooperation with the relevant actors in the fields of police and security, mainly, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee and Interpol.

During the Conference on Border Control Cooperation in the Sahel and the Maghreb, which was held in Rabat, Morocco on 13 March 2013, the Secretary General of the WCO Kunio Mikuriya has highlighted the link between illicit trade and Terrorism activities. The 11 participating countries from the Sahel and Maghreb regions have been confronted with porous borders and terrorist activities linked to transnational organized crime.

To tackle these  issues, the WCO has developed several instruments and tools such as CENcomm, a secure communication system that facilitates the exchange and use of data in a timely, reliable and secure manner with direct access available 24 hours a day and the Interface Public Members (IPM), a tool to combat counterfeiting.

The WCO has also participated in UN assessment missions relating to security measures. One of its recommendations is to involve Customs in national security committees in a more prominent manner.

Since 2010 the WCO and the UNODC are engaged in a special collaboration to implement the Project Aircop funded by the European Commission, coordinated by the UNODC and implemented by the WCO and Interpol. This project is aimed at improving inter-service coordination through the establishment of Airport Anti-Trafficking Units (AATUs), the provision of training on targeting, research and inspection methods and the development of international cooperation through the use of real-time secure communication systems and access to international databases.

The WCO is preparing its Seventh Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy to be held in Istanbul, Turkey from 24-26 April 2013.

The 7^TH global Congress will focus on discussion over how challenges around combating the counterfeiting and piracy have evolved and seek innovative and agile responses in a connected manner.

www.wcoomd.org/

Marie Chantal Uwitonze