On 16 November 2020, the WCO organized and chaired the 1st European Regional Meeting of nCEN Programme Leaders, conducted virtually in view of restrictions associated with the current global health crisis. Representatives from all eight European countries using the WCO’s National Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) application participated in the Meeting, in addition to WCO Secretariat staff and the Head of the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) for Eastern and Central Europe, who was invited as an Observer.
The WCO Secretariat presented an overview of the Global nCEN Programme, the evolution of regional networks and the situation in terms of nCEN usage in Europe. The newly released version of nCEN 3.3.0 was also showcased. It includes an important advancement in the automation of the software’s upgrading process, which was a major hurdle in the past for many administrations. Participants also discussed the scope of the work by nCEN Programme Leaders and exchanged ideas relating to possible improvements to the nCEN application.
The rollout of the nCEN application has been very successful over the past few years. The application is currently deployed in 48 countries spread over the six WCO regions, and the voice of nCEN users has become increasingly relevant to the overall strategic direction of the CEN suite development.
In an effort to promote cooperation among countries using the nCEN application, especially with a view to increasing information sharing between Customs administrations and given the amount of data which flows into the global CEN database, the WCO has been fostering the growth of regional cooperation structures with the aim of exchanging best practices, discussing and addressing possible challenges with the application’s use, and building a consensus on the application’s future development to meet regional enforcement needs.
The Meeting concluded with the election of Georgia as Regional nCEN Programme Leader. Georgia assumed responsibility for presenting the European perspective within the wider Global nCEN Network.