Articles under section " Dossier: Creating a culture of integrity "

Integrity is the basis for trust in Customs. Integrity is a positive set of attitudes and values which foster honest and ethical behaviour and work practices. Having integrity is more than simply not being corrupted, it is about aligning our actions, interactions and decisions with our principles an...

For the Dossier section of this edition of the magazine, we have selected a number of articles illustrating Customs’ efforts to create a culture of integrity and highlighting a number of innovative practices. The first article introduces the online tool, piloted recently by Argentina Customs, that...

In November 2024, Argentina Customs piloted a new online tool designed by the WCO to facilitate the implementation of the Customs Integrity Perception Survey (CIPS). The Survey was developed in 2019 under the WCO’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme funded by Norway. It enab...

The next step was to find an administration to test the online tool. Argentina was the first to reach out to the WCO A-CIP Team with an interest. Argentina’s newly created Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero (ARCA) had been working on fostering a culture of integrity within its ranks. The A...

New research regarding the impact and efficacy of anti-corruption messaging stresses that it is crucial for campaigners to tailor their messages to suit their audience, in other words to consider their prior knowledge, beliefs, and dispositions. They even suggest that anti-corruption communications ...

Members who have undertaken the CIPS have already seen the value of using the results to generate more meaningful communications. In last June’s issue of the WCO News Magazine, El Salvador and Mozambique shared their journey with CIPS and explained that they shaped their communications around the ...

The workforce of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is highly unionized, with 69.24% of the staff having joined the GRA Workers’ Union (GRAWU), which was formed in 2012. Membership of the Union cuts across all three divisions of the GRA, namely the Customs Division, Domestic Tax Revenue Division an...

GRAWU consults GRA staff mainly through meetings and communicates with them by means of circulars sent via corporate email and published on notice boards at the various offices as well as on the Union’s website. GRA employees can contact the union representatives via email, through GRAWU social me...

Anyone who joins the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) is obliged to declare his/her assets and business interests, as well as those of his/her spouse and of his/her minor children (if applicable). A new declaration will have to be submitted every three years. In the past few years, the MRA has made...

The “soldiers” Behind Mauritius’ efforts lies a small but formidable team with wide investigatory powers: the Internal Affairs Division (IAF). It is composed of 11 specialized officers, skilled in financial forensics and workplace investigations, and of two support officers, in charge of ma...

The WCO Revised Arusha Declaration Concerning Good Governance & Integrity in Customs highlights the need to ensure that morale is high in Customs administration and that employees develop an “esprit de corps”. One interesting initiative is this matter is the Next Generation Network (NGN). L...

Mission and vision The NGN exists to foster innovation and create opportunities for networking among CBSA’s employees and act as a mechanism to create a working space for the exchange of ideas between young professionals and management. Through programs, events, and knowledge-sharing initiat...

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) of Saudi Arabia has recently developed an innovative workforce mobility solution: the Automated Employee Rotation System (AERS). This data-driven, technology-powered system addresses long-standing inefficiencies in employee rotation across ports, enhanci...

Developing a rotation or mobility scheme is considered a good way of achieving this aim, as long as it is well thought out and well managed. It should enable an administration to ensure that the right personnel are deployed to the right locations at all times and to enhance operational agility. The ...

Customs administrations around the world have reported incidents where their officers are being approached by organized criminal groups seeking to persuade them to misuse their power to facilitate illicit activities. The more that measures are taken to secure access to premises and IT systems, the m...

All newly recruited staff are required to undergo induction training during which they learn about corruption risks and vulnerabilities. The various methods used by criminals, from seduction to threats and possible violence, are explained, as well as how to report corruption attempts so that they ca...

South Africa has witnessed a phenomenon of state capture where business people and those who are closer to powerful politicians form a corrupt relationship that benefit them and their families. This phenomenon sought to repurpose the state institutions to pursue corrupt intent, which are diametrical...

Besides developing integrity and anti-corruption policies that are pragmatic, realistic, rapidly effective, and capable of being evaluated, a concrete link between integrity promotion policies and reforms was established. The fight against corruption was anchored in the policy of reform. Now, in 202...

The Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) has undergone a transformative journey anchored in strong leadership, a commitment to reform, and sustained collaboration with its internal and external stakeholders and international partners. This article looks at the work done in the area of integrity, whic...

The Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme aims to foster a more business-enabling environment by supporting Customs administrations in implementing the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, as well as WCO instruments. Very early on, while discussing the path to take to modernize t...