WCO releases new Customs tools to advance gender equality and diversity
Gender equality and diversity has been part of the WCO capacity building agenda since 2013. In continuing its efforts to promote the advancement of gender equality and diversity in Customs, the WCO launched a number of new tools and initiatives in the past year.
E-learning module: “Advancing Gender Equality in Customs”
A new e-learning module on “Advancing gender equality in Customs” has been published on the WCO
It takes time and dedication for Customs officers to become familiar with WCO tools, instruments and recommended practices in the course of their daily work. First, there are numerous amounts of them. Second, some are highly technical, and getting to grips with them requires training from WCO sta... In 2009, with financial support from Japan Customs, the WCO Secretariat created the Career Development Programme (CDP) to enable Customs officers from developing countries to immerse themselves in WCO work, acquire as much knowledge and skills as possible, and grow at the professional and persona... More information
Unlocking potential: latest news and testimonials about the Career Development Programme
Career Development Programme marks its 10th year
The Career Development Programme (CDP) celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019. Funded by Japan Customs, it offers on-the-job training to mid-managerial level Customs officers during a 10 month stint at the WCO Secretariat under the supervision of experts in different areas.
So far, 95 off...
The CDP stands out among WCO capacity building initiatives. Indeed, the type of support provided by the Secretariat can be divided into two, with some activities focusing on human resource and organizational development, and others focusing on the implementation of WCO instruments, tools and stan...
Some 1,000 Customs officers have already benefited from the WCO Fellowship Programme
Since its launch in 1985, the WCO Fellowship Programme has run a total series of 80 sessions, enabling 950 participants from 143 Customs administrations in developing countries to acquire sound knowledge on internationally recognized Customs techniques and practices, and to bolster their manag...
The Programme’s administrators have, over the years, sought to improve it by proposing a format that is more in tune with the concerns and needs of the target administrations. They have, in particular, focused on:
- the development of leadership capacities with a view to endowing Fel...
CLiKC! – A goldmine of learning opportunities for Customs officers
A wide range of online courses, e-learning modules, videos and webinars are made available to Customs officers via CLiKC!, the WCO learning platform. Thousands of officers have already registered on the platform. Below...
New guide on human capital management
The workplace has undergone several radical changes in the past few years. According to literature, the traditional Human Resource Management (HRM) function has evolved to include new responsibilities such as an increased attention paid to people’s wellbeing. People are now seen as a ‘’Capi...
According to Professor Dave Ulrich, HCM professionals are required to play the following roles:
- Strategic positioner: they strategically position a business to win its market by evaluating the business environment, understanding stakeholders’ expectations and aligning them with int...
WCO guide
To develop the Guide to Managing Customs’ Human Capital through Crises and Beyond, WCO Secretariat staff conducted a survey among Customs administrations. They also interviewed Customs representatives...
The guide therefore includes a broad range of perspectives and highlights solutions that can be replicated in a Customs environment. It particularly sheds light on:
- 19 guiding principles which are recognized as critical within Customs administrations in enabling staf...
A guide to developing HS skills
Classifying goods in the Harmonized System (HS) requires specific knowledge and skills, and, in some cases, a thorough understanding of the rules that govern it. While machine learning technology has enabled the development of various classification tools, these “are designed to assist clas...
To guide Customs administrations in their efforts to train their staff, the WCO Secretariat has developed the Strategic Guidance for Competency Development in the area of Tariff Classification of Goods for Customs Administrations. The guidance outlines a four-level competency development...
SARS’ experience regarding the impact of digitalization on human resources
Context for change
Driven by the need to ensure it would be able to address the increased demands of the global trading landscape, with regard to both financial and social security, accession to international instruments ...
A new CLiKC! platform
The WCO Secretariat is about to launch a new version of the CLiKC! learning platform, in order to provide users with a comprehensive picture of the Organization’s training material and opportunities available to its Members.
This initiative follows the endorsement by the WCO Capacity Bui...
To support this shift in the way training is delivered, the new CLiKC! platform will enable its users to:
- view all the training opportunities offered by the WCO Secretariat, such as the “course catalogue,” which includes e-learning courses, global and regional workshops, and othe...
Untapping the potential of human resource management in Customs
Customs administrations, due to the nature of their missions and to the fact that they are operating in an environment marked by complex interactions, have to constantly engage in modernization efforts. In other words, they need to regularly update and upgrade their operating models and working m...
Findings from WCO People Development Diagnostics
The WCO has been promoting a vision of Customs as a coherent professional body with unique operating models, and which consists of individuals who share specific and gradua...
WCO develops a model to assess maturity of leadership programmes
Leadership competencies and skills oil the wheels of organizational progress and success. To support its Members in this field, the WCO has developed a Leadership and Management Development Programme. This article introduces the Maturity Model, one of the tools dev...
An assessment at four levels
The LMD Programme has developed a Maturity Model to support Customs administrations wishing to assess their level of maturity in implementing ...
Enhancing performance lies in helping employees to be aware of who they are and what drives them
How can you make an impact as a leader on the performance of your organization, especially in a time of crisis? Part of the answer lies in ensuring that your human resource (HR) managers are taken seriously and have the tools at their disposal to make the best ...
Why are some people more successful than others
At Innermetrix UK Ltd, we conducted a seven-year study on what really drives individual performance and success. We looked at 75 PhDs and 900 consultants who are specialists in helping peopl...
Customs laboratories: available resources, assistance and networking possibilities
While many traded goods can be correctly identified and classified by simple visual inspection or documentation review, some require chemical or scientific testing to ascertain their identity and enable their correct classification. Products as diverse as acetaminophen (a pharmaceutical product),...
Ensuring Staff Wellbeing and Psychological Health: Jamaica shares its experience
The Jamaica Customs Agency considers its human capital to be its most valued resource and, as such, its staff has a place of pride within the Administration. In this article, the Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD) Division introduces some of the progr...
Psychological health
The importance of psychological health and its impact on organizational success cannot be overstated. With this in mind, the Agency has established an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through which employees and t...
Physical wellbeing
Under its Physical Wellbeing Programme, the Agency offers its staff the opportunity to participate in physical activities, including the Agency’s own initiative, called #Customsmoves, -an aerobics and strength traini...
Why now is the time to address workforce challenges
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...
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 pot...
True leadership through greater awareness
Since 2015, Directors General of Customs and their executive teams have been able to participate in a ‘Top Executive Retreat,’ as a means of further strengthening their capacity in implementing change and in achieving organizational results. This article ex...
Customs laboratories, chemistry and excise: an historical introduction
At the end of July 1882, a strange package arrived at the Madrid Customs laboratory which was under the direction of Gabriel de la Puerta-Ródenas, a Spanish chemist who lived from 1839-1908. Destined for Spain’s Prime Minister, the Spanish authorities, fearing for the Prime Minister’s life, ...
Qatar Customs invests in staff development
Qatar Customs is offering its staff new opportunities to further their education and ensure they are well equipped to take on complex projects or managerial positions. This article introduces these new educational programmes and reveals some of the lessons lear...
In order to offer its employees the opportunity to acquire such knowledge and skills, Qatar Customs established a partnership with the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) and the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES) a...
Qatar Customs Knowledge Management Strategy
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 ab...
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
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 p...
Dominican Republic opens top-notch Customs laboratory
On 18 February 2015, the General Directorate of Customs (DGA) of the Dominican Republic officially opened a modern scientific laboratory occupying a site measuring 1,217 square metres in the city of Santo Domingo. The facility has an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), an emergency generator, kit...
Managing organizational performance in a crisis period
This article is based on the presentation by the authors at the WCO webinar “Managing HR through a crisis and beyond”. It looks at how to maintain effective performance in a severely disruptive crisis situation, and explores practical strategies for combini...
According to an article published by the management consulting firm Gallup [2]: “Leaders don’t need to predict the future. What followers need most are trust, compassion, stability and hope.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is dramatically increasi...
Interesting trends in Customs university programmes
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 equiva...
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...
Gender equality through equal pay: Iceland Customs takes the lead
Gender equality is now a dominant theme throughout the world, and is being pursued in various ways by international organizations, governments and industry alike. The Customs world is no different as it tackles the issue, bolstered by ‘gender mainstreaming’ bei...
Is it possible to use a private laboratory as a Customs laboratory?
In one word: Yes! At least, that is the experience of the Danish Customs and Tax Administration (SKAT). There are, of course, issues to be considered and addressed before taking the decision to use a private laboratory as a Customs laboratory, but once the issues have been addressed, it is entire...
An overview of Philippines Customs’ journey towards transformation
When I was appointed to the top position in the Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) in October 2018, I was confronted with challenges aplenty, from administrative to operational concerns and systemic deficiencies that made the Bureau vulnerable to corrupt practices. For more than two years now, ...
We have also put a great deal of work into the completion of the database and the pool of BOC trainers, speakers and experts, and into carrying out 180 activities as part of our learning and development programmes in 2020, in which a total of 5,570 employees participated.
The COVID-19 pand...
A new Customs Operations Centre also opened in December 2020. Designed to house the different intelligence, enforcement, risk management and scanning systems of the Bureau, the Centre’s officers are to help enhance the operations of the 17 Collection Districts located across the country, and ai...
Providing diversified learning: some innovative practices of China Customs
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 ...
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 ...
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 a...
French Customs rewards its officers’ innovative practices
In mid-October 2023, French Customs launched a competition for its 16,546 officers. The aim was to provide a platform for competitors to showcase their implemented or developing innovative practices – in the form of working methods, processes or equipment – to their peers.
Und...
Commenting on the initiative, the Director General[1] stated: “I firmly believe that many innovative practices have been implemented on the ground, and I feel that it is vital to establish a vehicle for highlighting and sharing these initiatives and for them...
Border workforce well-being: Canada takes care of its employees
The health and wellness of our workforce is critical to the success of modern border management organizations. While the operating environments differ between each of our countries – for example, some of us work in an armed environment, or within different legal frameworks – we all share a co...
Dubai Customs uses artificial intelligence to boost productivity
Improving workplace productivity and helping people get their jobs done efficiently is critical for Customs administrations that have to deal with an increase in the number of cross-border movements, be it cargo or people.
With a forecasted growth in trade and travel being driven by EXPO 2...
The system acts like a tiny coach sitting on a manager’s shoulder throughout the day. And every now and then, the coach whispers something like, “this person did something great recently,” or “this process could be improved.”
The Productivity Engine produces a productivity score ...
Ensuring gender equality and diversity: Indonesia’s experience
In 2000, the President of Indonesia issued a decree requesting all government agencies to integrate the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men into the planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of policies and activities. This strategy, known a...
Gender Equality and Diversity Taskforce
In 2006, the Ministry of Finance decided to create a GED Taskforce to ensure effective implementation of gender mainstreaming. The Taskforce is made up of high-level representatives...
Knowledge transfer: Serbia Customs shares its experience
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 ali...
Demographics
Detector dogs: Polish Customs aims to foster regional cooperation
Trained dogs are incredible chemical sensors, far better than even the most advanced technological device. But training novice handlers and dogs is a highly technical and challenging task. Polish Customs initially benefited from foreign technical assistance to buil...
During the period from 2015 to 2021 a complete modernization of the Centre’s infrastructure was carried out, and the living and working conditions of the dog handlers and service dogs improved greatly. A new building was constructed with efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning syste...
Australian Border Force Detector Dog Program
The Australian Border Force (ABF) Detector Dog Program (DDP) is a national program divided into two sub-sections:
- Operations – responsible for seven regional operational units in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
- Breeding and training ...
The main limitations of the breeding program are related to resources and infrastructure. These include:
- Staffing and breeding stock numbers.
- Competencies of staff to deal with complex breeding activity.
- Having enough whelping and nursery areas to safely support act...
Knowledge management: interesting practices from brokers
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.
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 d...
Homecoming: after 15 years, CBP returns to the World Trade Center
As far back as Colleen Piccone can remember, the World Trade Center was always a part of her life. Growing up on Staten Island in the early 1970s, she watched from across the New York Harbour as the Twin Towers were being built. After graduating from Brooklyn Law School, she started working at 6 ...
Dubai Customs: Journey towards a ‘Customs of the future’
Just a few years ago, the Dubai government set a very aggressive vision to compete with the major cities of the world, and to stand out as the leading trade hub in the Middle East. This left Dubai Customs with no choice but to evolve and transform.
The characteristics of the environment wh...
Spotlight on the Mexican Tax Administration Service’s internal communication activities
The Mexican Tax Administration Service (Servicio de Administración Tributaria, or SAT) has acknowledged the value of its human capital, and has been putting great effort into motivating its staff and making sure that they are proud to belong to the institution. In...
Throughout the year, we conceive, on average, 25 strategies aimed at influencing the behaviour and work ethic of more than 33,000 SAT employees, located in over 180 offices/representations across the country, including 55 tax payer “attention offices” and 49 Customs offices. We have also esta...
Competency-based approach to HR management: the experience of Abu Dhabi Customs
The General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs (hereinafter referred to as “Abu Dhabi Customs”) has recently undergone a major organizational change in order to keep pace with technological developments and to meet the digital transformation objectives set by the Abu Dhabi Government. One of...
Identification of competencies
A competency consists of several components, including motives, attitudes, values, skills, talent, intelligence, abilities, knowledge, know-how, experience, social roles and self-image. Some...
Some guidance to Customs and trade practitioners on how to deal with the hugely complex, demanding and risky field of Customs knowledge
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 discussi...
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 f...
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 ...
Brand new facility for the training of Customs officials in Morocco
Knowing that strengthening human capital is one of the key factors that determine performance, Moroccan Customs made this one of the five objectives of its 2017-2021 Strategic Plan. In September 2019, as part of this Plan, a Customs Training Institute came into bei...
Training is also offered for what are known as support positions within the Administration, such as human resource management and budget management. In addition to this, there is specific training known as “succession training”, which is intended for a pool of Customs officials selected for t...
Morocco’s Customs Service establishes special status for its officials
The date of 10 December 2020 marked the history of the Moroccan Customs Service. On that date, Morocco’s Governing Council approved the draft Decree governing Customs staff regulations. This article reviews the significant provisions of the Decree and the importa...
This had negative consequences in terms of managing the Customs body, particularly in relation to inappropriate recruitment criteria, career structure and conduct. To be recruited as surveillance officers, for example, within a unit, applicants had to be between 18 and 45 years of age, while phy...
A diversity and inclusion approach through traineeships
The Dominican Republic’s Directorate General of Customs (DGA) is striving to be a more diverse and inclusive workplace. The term “diversity” refers to “any attribute people use to tell themselves that another person is different”,[1] such as colour, ...
This idea soon materialized into a programme enabling young individuals to spend 11 weeks within a department of the DGA. By the end of May 2024, the programme had delivered 10 rounds of traineeships, benefiting a total of 621 individuals.
As a starting point, the DGA’s goal was to de...
Working together: Australia and Korea fostering collaboration through officer placement
Cooperation between Customs agencies is crucial in order to address some of the collective risks and challenges faced at the border. The Australian Border Force regularly collaborates with foreign Customs and enforcement authorities in various ways, for example...
As a result of Mr. Jeong’s assignment to Australia, the ABF and the KCS now have a greater understanding of each other’s plans in applying emerging technologies to Customs and border processes that will open new avenues for collaboration. By harnessing technology and enabling data sharing, it...
Jordan Customs equips patrol officers with body-worn cameras
Body-worn cameras are small cameras which can be clipped onto clothes or worn as a headset and turned on to record video and audio. In some countries, enforcement agencies are using the devices to monitor officers on patrol or on other assignments that bring them i...
Research
The Department conducted extensive research and practical experiments to determine the required specifications to be met by the cameras. The team in charge of the...
An enriching and remarkable journey on the “SMIPRP train” in Japan
High rise buildings with beautiful lighting, fascinating road layouts and curves cutting deftly and sometimes complicatedly across each other, signalled my arrival in Japan. Almost every wall and sign post from the airport to the city was dotted with an intriguing mix of Katakana, Hiragana and Ka...
Gambia Revenue Authority modernizes its human resource management approach
In cooperation with the WCO, the Gambia Revenue Authority has embarked on a journey to modernize its human resource management capacity, which will enable it to become one of the country’s best employers, as well as a better service delivery institution.
Overview of German Customs’ fight against illicit financial flows
Monitoring and combating illicit financial flows (IFFs) represent a substantial challenge to all countries. This is particularly true for Germany with its growing significance as a financial centre. This article introduces the German Customs organizational structur...
Organizational structure
Germany’s authorities and, in particular, the German Customs administration, are taking up the challenge: the fight against IFFs that make use of the facilities provided by financial regulations...
Dubai Customs introduces a Virtual Reality Customs training programme
As Virtual Reality (VR) solutions are creating new ways to learn and become more embedded in the private and public sectors, Dubai Customs recently deployed a one-of-a-kind VR training programme to train their inspectors for fieldwork. The training is designed to improve inspectors’ efficiency ...
Supporting mental and physical health: an overview of CBP resources and services
With approximately 64,000 employees, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest law enforcement organization in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Eighty per cent of the workforce are geographically dispersed agents and officers who face unique pressures, stresso...
Outside of incorporating mental well-being into mandatory training, CBP also regularly communicates the different work-life services and benefits available to the workforce. CBP has a robust and unique menu of services provided to employees that sets them apart from similar organizations within t...
This CBP beagle isn’t your typical canine
Imagine being less than two feet tall and having to navigate the luggage carousel at one of the busiest airports in America. This could be a daunting and intimidating task, but every day a non-intimidating canine battles through the large crowds sniffing backpacks and luggage looking for food.
When people think of law enforcement canines, beagles are probably one of the last breeds someone would envision. Anderson believes the programme to start using beagles began in the 80s. “We wanted to create public awareness of the agricultural programme. Beagles are cute and cuddly and not int...
Investing in leadership should be an unwavering priority for all Customs administrations
Leadership development programmes are crucial to the lasting success of every organization. To support its Members in this field, the WCO has developed a Leadership and Management Development Programme. In this article, the Commissioner of Uganda Customs shares his...
Actioning knowledge gained back home
When I returned to Uganda, I recall the first action I took was to rally my team in order to go through the “visioning” process that I had been introduced to. Together, we began to...
Educating the next generation of Customs professionals
Are there ways to improve compliance, safety, security, operational efficiency and information quality in international trade? Reduce the administrative burden for business and government? Foster the uniform application of Customs legislation? Encourage mutual unde...
Cameras: one way of making traffic controls more efficient
Between 2021 and 2023, French Customs trialled the use of cameras in covert surveillance systems on the roads. Positioned discreetly on the ground and connected to a 4G system, they allow Customs officers to detect suspicious movements remotely. As mobile devic...
Covert surveillance: Daily working hypothesis for inland Customs
The image of a Customs officer standing at a barrier has never been anything but an illusion. The annals o...
Rethinking training: a visit to the Netherlands Customs National Training Centre
Nowadays, most Customs administrations have a school which teaches Customs staff. Some have a training centre devoted to the continuous practical training of officers throughout their careers. And it is one of these centres and its crucial role that is examined in this article, the purpose of whi...
Training in the time of COVID-19: Ukraine’s experience
Ukraine declared itself an independent country on 24 August 1991 and, shortly afterwards, established its own Customs Service. As it is the case for any new organization, the challenge was to find highly qualified specialists and focus was consequently placed on the training of newly recruited of...
The Department also selects and trains dogs and dog handler teams, manages the logistics and infrastructure of the Dog Training Centre (kennels, vehicles and training tools used), ensures participation by Ukrainian dog handler teams in special events, and cooperates with other agenc...
Highlights from the WCO Communication Strategies Conference
If the conferences organized by the WCO Secretariat usually address technical matters related to Customs and trade, such as information technology, authorized economic operators (AEOs), the Harmonized System, or security, one event was an exception last year: the Communication Strategies Conferen...
Staff need to be informed and their voice heard
Internal communication can be defined as the way an organization interacts with its staff and the way they interact with it. Its purpose is to create a shared understanding ...
How Peru boosted its modernization process during the crisis
In Peru, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a contraction of the volume of exports and imports, which has negatively impacted tax revenues. However, the crisis did not stop the supply of goods deemed critical to deal with the pandemic, nor did it stop the imports and exports vital to supporting the cou...
Adjusting to a new reality
The measures aimed at supporting the continuity of foreign trade operations during the pandemic included:
- the suspension of deadlin...