On 12 August the World Customs Organization (WCO) announced that its Anti-Corruption & Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme was hosting a new web series on various topics relating to Customs and integrity.
Guest speakers from WCO Secretariat and Membership are invited to discuss issues concerning the fight against corruption in Customs and provide insights into key WCO integrity tools and instruments, as well as the importance of related areas such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
The WCO Deputy Secretary General emphasised that within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, “now more than ever, as the world faces new social and economic challenges, combatting corruption in Customs is critical to maintaining trust in and security of public institutions”.
Four episodes of the web series have been released so far:
- Introducing what the WCO does about corruption in Customs;
- How to talk about corruption in Customs;
- Key WCO integrity-related tools; and
- Who is involved in WCO integrity activities.
Future episodes will cover topics such as some ways to measure corruption in Customs, insights on the Revised Arusha Declaration, as well as discussions focusing on key factors within the Revised Arusha Declaration. For example, how the Regulatory Framework & Reform and Modernization key factors are connected with the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and the WTO TFA commitments.
WCO Members, other international organisations, and representatives of the private sector will find those episodes useful and insightful, and that will help generate further discussion around the topic of integrity in Customs.
For more information about the web series, WCO A-CIP Programme or WCO integrity-related activities, please visit the WCO A-CIP Programme page.
The WCO A-CIP Programme webpage is accessible at:
http://www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/capacity-building/activities-and-programmes/cooperation-programmes/acip-programme.aspx
Story by: Riaan de Lange