Customs

On 07 January 2026, the World Customs Organization (WCO) stated that global cargo supply chains were fundamental to the global economy, serving as the connective tissue that allows goods, services and innovation to move efficiently across borders. According to the WCO, their stability underpins economic resilience, supports livelihoods, and ensures that communities remain linked to essential resources.

However, their scope, scale and size represent a prime target for illegitimate traders and drug trafficking networks looking to conceal shipments, exploit regulatory gaps and evade detection. This challenge places added pressure on authorities and industry partners to strengthen oversight while maintaining the efficiency and openness that global commerce requires.

Amidst this complex landscape, Customs often stands as a nation’s first line of defence, tasked with identifying and addressing such threats while fostering a culture of vigilance, preparedness, and meaningful collaboration with both partner enforcement agencies and the broader trade community.

Building a collaborative approach

In the context of building Customs resilience to address supply chain risks adequately, the overall risk profile is alarmingly high yet varies greatly across WCO member regions.

Within that context, the WCO Supply Chain Integrity (SCI) Project developed a regional seminar series intended to actively engage the international Customs and trade community and focus collaborative effort and energy where it is most needed.

In October 2025, the WCO delivered a final seminar in Namibia for members from East, South and West Africa, following earlier editions in Cambodia, Bahrain, the Dominican Republic and Belgium.

With generous support from Namibia’s Revenue Agency and guest presenters from New Zealand Customs Service and Mediterranean Shipping Company, the seminar illuminated contemporary issues directly impacting the region and introduced recently published guidance material developed under Pillar 1, Standard 9: Security Assessments, of the SAFE Framework.

The WCO developed this new guidance to help members systematically identify current and emerging supply chain threats and vulnerabilities, and to enhance transparency and accountability through structured reporting.

A shared purpose that brings progress

In recent years, a greater sense of shared purpose and responsibility for preserving the safety and security of maritime cargo supply chains, and acknowledgement of the mutual benefits of increased data and information exchange, has accelerated proactive dialogue and multilateral collaboration between Customs members and private sector stakeholders.

In September, the WCO co-hosted an industry conference alongside the World Shipping Council (WSC) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) with input from the Federation of European Private Port Companies and Terminals. This conference built upon the successes of earlier events, such as the European Shipping Summit 2025, where the WSC moderated a session on “Continuing the fight against organised crime and illicit trafficking”, and the EFTA Surveillance Authority session on Navigating Challenges to Security and Resilience in European Ports | ESA.

The WCO conference, A collective response to safeguarding maritime supply chains from criminal threats, facilitated dialogue on the importance of functional information loops and the notion of Public-Private Partnerships, assessing relative successes and considering future efforts to enhance industry-specific information and data exchange.

On the margins of the conference, the WCO and IAPH launched updated Guidelines on Cooperation between Customs and Port Authorities, which also incorporate valuable additions from the WSC. Such collaborative efforts further demonstrate an ongoing commitment to strengthening trust, transparency and efficiency across the global trade and maritime community.

Additionally, the WCO conference highlighted a 2025 WCO Study Report on Smart Security Devices (SSD), which considers technology-based solutions with the potential to spawn a generation of ‘smart containers’ capable of real-time containerised cargo monitoring. A panel session involving the Smart Container Alliance, moderated by the WCO, contextualised the promise and peril confronting global cargo supply chains, for example, by considering the potential of innovative solutions to address contemporary threats and vulnerabilities.

On the one hand, smart technology solutions can create a more hostile environment for threat actors; on the other, the notoriously opaque yet highly coveted ‘internal conspirator’ is a firm reminder that human-initiated security breaches continue to plague and compromise the legitimate system of global trade.

Towards a more secure future

So, what does the future look like? On supply chain integrity, it’s evident that the international Customs, trade, ports, liner shipping and law enforcement community is aligned and unified in their thinking and efforts. If global trade is to remain safe, reliable, and efficient, further investment in genuine, multilateral cooperation and enhanced platforms for fluid data and information exchange is needed.

Finally, while the illicit drugs trade continues to dominate comparative safety and security agendas, it is important to focus less on the commodity and more on the collective system of trade, and all of the constituent parts that are being exploited.

Into 2026, the WCO SCI Project, now working under the Secretariat’s newly established Supply Chain Integrity Unit, will continue to promote active dialogue with key stakeholders, seek out opportunities for Customs to industry collaboration, and work to support WCO members through new regional capacity-building activities designed to enhance Customs controls and foster more resilient cargo supply chains.