At the invitation of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Secretary General (SG), the World Customs Organization (WCO) SG attended the INTERPOL Partners Conference 2026, held at INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, from 30 June 2026 to 01 July 2026. The event provided the Secretary General with the opportunity to reinforce the value of customs-police cooperation in addressing increasingly complex criminal modus operandi. In addition, the SG shared how structured partnerships, intelligence-led enforcement and coordinated operational action can help protect society and secure global supply chains. Finally, the WCO SG met with the INTERPOL SG to further identify avenues for strengthening the WCO–INTERPOL partnership at both the strategic and operational levels.
Partnerships for impact
Under the theme “Investing in a safer world”, the conference brought together representatives from law enforcement, government, international and regional organisations, development agencies and the private sector to discuss how stronger partnerships can drive coordinated action, strengthen global security and deliver practical impact against transnational crime.
On the second day of the event, WCO SG delivered remarks to set the scene for the plenary panel titled “Impact Through Partnership: Multistakeholder Collaboration in Action”. The session focused on the future of these relationships in terms of collaboration. The discussion also provided an opportunity to emphasise the importance of structured cooperation among customs, police, and other partners.
Customs at the intersection of trade and security
From the perspective of the WCO, the SG stressed that effective responses to transnational crime require strong partnerships, sustained investment and closer cooperation across sectors and borders. He also focused on the value of customs-police cooperation in addressing increasingly complex criminal threats.
The WCO SG also shared his perspective, highlighting that Customs administrations are uniquely positioned at the intersection of international trade, security and the protection of society, with direct insight into the flow of cross-border goods and a key role in identifying risks, detecting illicit movements, securing supply chains and preventing criminal networks from exploiting logistics systems and marketplaces.
In his intervention, the WCO SG stated that “the WCO-INTERPOL partnership has enabled great things and will continue to do so. By bringing together our knowledge, information, resources and the attention of our members operating at the national level to ensure that cooperation becomes true practice, transnational criminal organisations will find the environment a bit more hostile.”
The WCO SG further emphasised that this underscored the need for structured cooperation between Customs, police, and other partners.
Turning cooperation into action
The WCO SG emphasised the value of operational cooperation between the WCO and INTERPOL, including through initiatives such as Operation Global Gateway, carried out under the WCO’s Programme Global Shield and Operation Thunder, jointly coordinated by the WCO and INTERPOL to combat wildlife and forestry crime. These operations demonstrated the importance of coordinated, intelligence-led enforcement in strengthening risk analysis, supporting operational action and enhancing the collective understanding of emerging threats.
On the margins of the conference, the SGs met bilaterally to discuss the continued strengthening of cooperation between the two organisations. In this context, they underlined the importance of continuing to formalise the relationship to reflect the current operational realities and future priorities of both organisations.
As a next step, the WCO and INTERPOL will continue working to finalise an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and further implement their joint action plan. This will help translate the strengthened partnership into closer information exchange, more coordinated operational cooperation and sharing of practical tools in support of Customs and police worldwide.