World Customs Organization (WCO)

An independent intergovernmental body aiming to enhance the effectiveness of customs agencies. Seventeen European countries founded the Customs Cooperation Council, now known as the World Customs Organization (WCO), in 1952. Since then, membership in the WCO has grown to 162 states, stretching around the globe. WCO members are responsible for processing more than 95% of international trade.

Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the WCO promotes technical and legal improvements to help participating countries cope with the rise in international trade. The WCO strives for the standardization and uniform application of simplified customs procedures. It also enables members to share best practices and to cooperate more effectively.

The WCO's network of international partnerships encourages efficient customs administration at the national level. It contributes to a more transparent and predictable customs environment, which facilitates world trade. The WCO also promotes mutual assistance [Page 814]among customs agencies to combat arms trafficking, the illegal movement of chemical, biological, and nuclear materials. In addition, the organization helps detect activities that finance terrorism, such as drug trafficking and money laundering.

In July 2004, the WCO urged its member states to implement stringent cargo-security standards similar to the ones adopted by the United States after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Such measures include the requirement that sea carriers provide advance cargo information to customs officials at destination ports. U.S. customs requires sea carriers to present data on United States-bound cargo 24 hours before it is loaded at a foreign port. By harmonizing national cargo-security regulations, the WCO hopes to safeguard the supply chain and to reduce the cost of compliance for shipping companies. The WCO insists that stricter security measures should not hinder the flow of legitimate trade.

In addition, since 1998, the WCO prepares and circulates a code of conduct for customs officials and holds training courses to promote professional integrity. The WCO also offers regional seminars to provide a forum for sharing best practices and for identifying strategies to prevent corruption among customs officials. In 2003, the WCO helped open a regional education center outside Baku, Azerbaijan, to improve the professional skills of local customs officers. The United States, Japan, and Germany contribute nearly half of the WCO's annual budget. As of 2005, the organization's secretary-general was Michel Danet, formerly a French customs official.