On 17 April The Customs - Police Cooperation Handbook, jointly drafted by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and INTERPOL, was released. The Handbook was developed to further the goal of enhancing cooperation and collaboration between these two agencies. This guidance material aims to describe the complementary roles of each institution and identify the opportunities for collaboration. The Handbook also provides an overview of the typologies of cooperation models that exist and presents the key elements and initiatives that can be implemented to foster better coordination and enhanced cooperation. The Handbook contains an assessment tool that seeks to evaluate the state of play of relations between Customs and Police at national level.
The release of the Handbook coincided with the 14th Annual Meeting of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureaus (NCB), an event that brought together the Heads of Bureaus to discuss policing challenges, share information, exchange ideas and best practices, and be updated on latest activities and new resources of INTERPOL. The NCB meeting fully endorsed and supported the efforts to bring the Customs and Police community together in addressing those mutual priorities that impact cross-border criminal activity.
