Articles under section " Dossier: Managing Knowledge "

Each year, the WCO Secretariat invites the Organization’s Members to focus on a theme it considers relevant to the Customs community and its partners. In 2023, under the slogan “Nurturing the Next Generation: Promoting a Culture of Knowledge-sharing and Professional Pride in Customs”, the Secr...

By creating a stimulating work environment and offering learning opportunities to their officers, Customs administrations can not only attract and retain talent, but also enhance their officers’ sense of professional pride. It is often said that the new generation are searching for meaning; workin...

The workforce-related challenges faced by leaders of organizations in all sectors across the world are mounting. Recent empirical research in the form of one of the largest labour market studies ever conducted worldwide paints a more detailed and nuanced picture of what is going on ‒ and points t...

The challenges extend to the public sector. Leaders of public entities, like their counterparts in other sectors, are having to deal with complex challenges related to digitalization, automation, workforce diversity, equity and inclusion, culture and sustainability. The sheer variety of these potent...

The General Authority of Customs (GAC) of Qatar considers that knowledge management is key to improving its performance in all areas, ranging from service quality and productivity to the decision-making process and communication. Knowledge management is not really about managing knowledge, but about...

The Strategy developed by the Committee focuses on three key pillars: a knowledge culture which involves people in the knowledge creation and sharing process, tools and methodologies to manage, develop and maintain the Administration’s knowledge assets and sources, and a knowledge-sharing system ...

  Knowledge platform To enable officers to communicate, share knowledge and access relevant information via a single portal, the Administration has developed a platform on its intranet. This knowledge-based platform is designed to enable officers to share ideas, initiatives and suggestions t...

The business of Customs is extremely complex, and yet, until very recently, there was no academic recognition of Customs as a profession. Unlike lawyers, accountants, engineers and others who are able to point to some form of diploma that indicates they are professionals in their field, no equivalen...

  Focus on emerging technologies The “Professional Standards for Strategic and Operational Customs Managers” were updated in 2019. Stronger emphasis was placed on emerging technologies, risk and compliance management, supply chain security and trade facilitation. Academic programmes are e...

In March 2018, the Chinese government decided to integrate China’s entry-exit inspection and quarantine duties and workforce in 306 ports nationwide into China Customs. The former entry-exit inspection and quarantine officers then commenced working as Customs officers. This marked the birth of the...

All staff also undertook physical and team training based on military-style models. This included physical fitness training and behavioural training focusing on the importance of obedience to rules, teamwork and discipline. Senior officials also actively participated in this team training, which was...

Creating knowledge A first-class academic institution cannot content itself with spreading knowledge through its programmes and teachings. It must go further by producing original and pertinent findings through research activities and subsequent scientific publications. SCC is set to celebrate its...

The Serbia Customs Modernization Plan covering 2019 to 2023 recognized that the success of its implementation relies heavily on having qualified and professional Customs officials. It therefore provided for the development of a Human Resource Strategy to manage its human capital in a way that aligns...

Demographics Serbia Customs is ageing: around 23% of its employees are over 56 years old, around 69% are between 31 and 55 years old, and around 7% under 30 years old. As is the case with other public administrations in Serbia, many of our employees will retire in the coming two decades and, of co...

Customs brokers and Customs administrations share many challenges when it comes to collecting and sharing knowledge. This article introduces some of the practices used in this domain by brokers based in Lithuania. Managing knowledge in the supply chain and the role of brokers To ensure the smoot...

About entry level requirements Brokers navigate through the complexity of international trade thanks to information systems, but there is a limit to what the systems can do, in that they are only as good at problem solving as the people who operate them. As in other professions, knowledge, not just ...

 This article argues that a formal plan for building and managing Customs knowledge is necessary for a Customs brokerage to operate effectively. The components of such a plan are discussed, as well as the determinants that may affect the choices made. The discussion refers also to general issues o...

What is a Customs broker? The most basic function of the Customs broker is to complete and lodge Customs declarations and other documentation. Associated with this is the ability to advise the client on the requirements for a compliant declaration – permissions, authorizations, licences, etc. �...

Further, the avowed wish of Customs authorities to move compliance activity further from the border-crossing and to rely more heavily on risk-rating, post-clearance checks, audits and system checks, makes it dangerous to regard successful clearance as the end of the process. Errors that could be ove...