The first-ever WCO Pre-Accreditation Workshop focused on Data Analytics holds in Korea

27 January 2025

The WCO, in close collaboration with the Korea Customs Service, organized the first-ever Regional (Asia/Pacific) Pre-Accreditation Workshop for Technical and Operational Advisors (TOAs) on Data Analytics (DA) in Seoul, Korea, from 13 to 17 January 2025. Sponsored by the Customs Cooperation Fund of Korea (CCF-Korea), this workshop was part of the WCO's strategic initiative to build a pool of highly qualified experts in Data Analytics. These experts will promote WCO standards and tools and deliver capacity-building activities related to Data Analytics, thereby enhancing the Data Analytics capacities of Customs administrations worldwide.

Data Analytics is a powerful tool for governments to identify challenges, formulate policies, and assess impacts. Customs administrations, which collect vast amounts of data daily, must transform this raw information into actionable insights to enhance compliance, optimize resources, and tackle emerging challenges effectively through Data Analytics.

The significance of Customs Data Analytics, along with the WCO's efforts and support, was underscored by Mr. Heon Park, Director General of the International Affairs Bureau at the Korea Customs Service, during his welcome remarks, and by Mr. Ricardo Treviño Chapa, Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, in his opening remarks delivered via a recorded video message.

The workshop was attended by twelve participants invited from the Asia-Pacific region. Throughout the event, participants engaged in case studies, hands-on exercises in data management and analytics, and scenarios simulating real-world capacity-building missions. They worked intensively, showcasing their knowledge, skills, techniques, and, most importantly, their enthusiasm to contribute to the WCO’s future capacity-building activities. Successful participants will proceed to the next stage of the WCO expert accreditation process, which involves an in-field mission alongside a WCO lead expert. Those who complete the accreditation process will join the WCO’s expert pool, collaborating to support Members in enhancing their Data Analytics capacities.

For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org