The new WCO COPES Programme aims to develop and provide training focused on evidence collection and related issues in the domain of investigations and prosecutions. Its modules were finalized in late June 2015 and tested for the first time with Peruvian officials during a workshop held in Lima (Peru) from 20 to 23 July 2015.
This event, held in partnership with Peruvian Customs (SUNAT), United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Embassy of the United States in Lima, follows on from two pilot workshops in Sri Lanka and Albania. The contribution made by Customs authorities of these two countries’ facilitated the development of educational support materials for the Programme’s training workshops. Good practices in evidence collection as well as the traceability of seizures feature prominently in these materials.
The COPES Compendium, unanimously adopted by Members at the 30th Session of the Enforcement Committee in 2012, addresses Members’ concerns on the effectiveness and efficiency of seizure measures and the way in which they exercise their enforcement powers holistically .
The training was very well received and Peruvian Customs has recently embarked on a general process of updating its Customs model for duty collection, supporting businesses, and enforcement. At the end of the workshop, Peru’s Director General of Customs, Mr. Iván Luyo, urged participants to embed, forthwith, the workshop outputs in their day-to-day practice.
This is what the new COPES Programme, launched in early 2015 and whose first phase will last until the end of 2016, is all about. During that period, this training will be delivered again and then piloted through train-the-trainer courses in the six regions of the WCO.
For any additional information, please contact Mr. Gilles Thomas, WCO COPES Programme Coordinator, at the following address: Gilles.Thomas@wcoomd.org.