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 and ethics at all times, in all places and under all circumstances.

For Customs to achieve its objectives, this set of attitudes and values must be embodied by the management, executives and all employees to create a “culture” where individuals integrate such values and apply them, building trust by doing the right thing. A culture of integrity within a Customs administration, influences not only its operation, the way it is managed and the behaviour of its officials, but also economic operators and other stakeholders with whom it interacts.

Trust is hard earned, but easy to lose, which is why the WCO has taken a long view on building integrity. Since the late 1980s, WCO Members have been drawing and sharing lessons from their experiences in combating corruption and promoting integrity. They identified various factors that effective national Customs integrity programmes must address, and consolidated them into 12 and later 10 factors in the Arusha Declaration Concerning Good Governance and Integrity in Customs, which was adopted in 1993 and revised in 2003.

Since the 1990s, other declarations and conventions have focused on the issue of corruption in government administration. They have all attempted to identify the problem of corruption and have set out a variety of standards and practices considered necessary to deal with it. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which was adopted in 2003, entered into force in 2005 as the first legally binding international anti-corruption instrument. Chapter II of UNCAC lists practical measures to prevent corruption, which are aligned with and encompass some of the Revised Arusha Declaration provisions. To date, almost all WCO Members have ratified UNCAC, and thus are legally bound by it.

Like in any aspect of Customs, but even more so when it comes to the complex and sensitive topic of integrity, there is a divide between policy and practice. While a considerable amount of international attention was devoted to institutional and administrative corruption in administrations, this was not matched by developing a comprehensive model to deal with the problem. To help Customs administrations move from declarations on integrity to putting this commitment into action, WCO Members began working on the development of the Integrity Development Guide, which was released in 2007. This Guide, while keeping within the spirit and principles outlined in the above documents and, in particular, the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration, goes further by providing guidance to assist in the implementation of a range of practical strategies specifically designed to be used by administrations.

Over the years, more tools were developed, enabling Customs administrations to review their existing practices, such as the Guide to Corruption Risk Mapping or the Model Code of Ethics and Conduct. The WCO Secretariat also set about proposing to Customs administrations, in response to their requests for assistance, various types of activities, such as integrity assessment missions, missions to provide guidance on the introduction of performance measurement systems, and ad hoc missions to provide support in revising a code of conduct, developing an integrity strategy, devising a training plan or performing a mapping of corruption risks.

This support has been delivered on an ad hoc basis as needs and opportunities intersected on the WCO’s annual capacity building agenda. However, based on the awareness that integrity initiatives need to be focused and sustained, in 2019 the WCO launched the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme. With initial financing from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and additional funding from Canada, as well as in-kind support in the form of expertise and advice from more than 40 WCO Member administrations, the A-CIP Programme team developed specific project plans with 25 Customs administrations as well as guidance material, training courses and tools which are at the disposal of all WCO Members.

The current phase of the A-CIP will come to an end in October 2025, but the wealth of knowledge we have gained, the pool of experts we have developed and the methodologies and tools we have designed will enable Customs administrations to build on the momentum created by the Programme.

A new funding proposal is being submitted to donors, seeking their support for a new phase of the A-CIP Programme scheduled to run from 2026-2030. This new phase is designed to build on the strengths and successes of the first, while introducing a renewed focus aimed at delivering more systemic change, coordination and collective action that will embed integrity principles across all areas of Customs’ work.

Creating a culture of integrity takes a sustained effort, and the WCO remains committed to support Customs administrations’ ambitions to strengthen and uphold a strong ethical code, recognising its importance in shaping success and building the public’s trust.