By Linister Chivizhe
The World Customs Organisation (WCO) Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for East and Southern African (ESA) region, housed under Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, is holding its annual National Contact Points meeting in Zimbabwe’s tourist town of Victoria Falls from 27-29 August 2024. The meeting has a clear focus on strengthening intelligence sharing and forging new partnerships to compact the scourge of illicit trade. The three-day event, themed “Connecting the Globe through Intel Sharing with Old Partners as well as creating the new ones’’ brought together delegates from across the ESA region as well as representatives from RILO Western Europe, SADC Twix, WCO Headquarters and INTERPOL.
The workshop commenced with a warm welcome from ZIMRA’s Head of Compliance, Mr Adrian Swarres, representing the Commissioner General, Ms Regina Chinamasa. In his opening remarks, Mr Swarres lamented the low usage of World Customs Organisation tools in the Eastern and Southern Region (ESA), urging the National Contacts Points (NCPs) to ensure the effective utilisation of all the available WCO tools in fighting against illicit trade. He emphasised the importance of maintaining the integrity of the supply chain and pointed out the need to leverage WCO tools such as CEN, CENComm and the Global RILO network.
Addressing the NCPs, Mr Swarres probed into the findings of the WCO 2023 Illicit Trade Report. The report, he noted, identifies key areas of focus for enforcement activities, including cultural heritage, drugs, anti-money laundering, environment, intellectual property rights, health and safety, revenue and security. This comprehensive report serves as a roadmap for the region’s enforcement agencies as they navigate the complex landscape of illicit trade.
Building on Mr Swarres’ speech, Mr Ousmane Coundoul, WCO CEN Programmes Manager delivered a thought provoking speech where he expressed the critical importance of intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies and all partners engaged in enforcement activities. He highlighted that challenges faced in combating illicit trade, protecting revenue, ensuring the safety and security of our society are multi-faceted and constantly evolving and indicated the need to join hands as no single agency or organisation can tackle these issues in isolation.
Mr Larry Liza, the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), through a virtual speech, also highlighted the crucial role that NCPs play. He stressed that where there are changes in administration, NCPs, should ensure that handover and takeover processes are thoroughly conducted so that RILO can continue its functions without interruptions. In addition to that he pointed out that, all NCP should treat information requests with urgency, as issues related to security and enforcement cannot be taken lightly and any delays can have serious repercussions.
As the workshop continues over the next two days, delegates will have opportunity to delve more and deeper into the theme, and the workshop will feature case study presentations, panel discussions and working group sessions aimed at developing concrete strategies and action plans for ESA region for the period 2025 to 2025.