From 24 to 28 March 2025, the 45^th Session of the Enforcement Committee was held at WCO Headquarters under the leadership of Rebecca Jonassen from New Zealand as Chairperson, and Sarah Joyce from Ireland as Vice-Chairperson. This meeting brought together representatives of Customs administrations, WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs) and a range of stakeholders.

The 45^th Session endorsed the draft Enforcement Committee Work Programme which will guide compliance and enforcement activities for financial year 2025/2026. In keeping with the theme of the 45^th Session of the Enforcement Committee, “Customs Canine Units: Delivering Enforcement in an Era of Technological Change”, delegates were treated to a demonstration by the Belgian Customs Canine Unit, displaying dog and handler teams’ skills and their added value in the search for illicit goods which are, for example, carried on the passengers themselves or in their hand luggage.

As is customary, the activities implemented to date as well as future plans under the WCO compliance and enforcement programmes were presented. Delegates welcomed the six panel discussions during which they had an opportunity to exchange views on the following wide-ranging topics: (i) Challenges and prospects for Customs canine units; (ii) Operational insights addressing key enforcement gaps in combating environmental crime; (iii) Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats in the 21^st century; (iv) Risks posed by illicit trade across e-commerce platforms; (v) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the risk management domain; and (vi) Challenges posed by and the most effective methods for tackling trade-based money laundering. The panel discussions also raised some key issues requiring further attention by the Committee.

The Enforcement Committee endorsed six new tools, designed to enhance the capabilities of Customs administrations in addressing illicit trade in various enforcement domains: (i) WCO Standards for Dog Training Centres; (ii) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for controls of shipments of substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol; (iii) Update of the WCO Customs Risk Management Compendium; (iv) Guideline on Customs Responses to Industry Referrals; (v) Customs Targeting Centre (CTC) Guidelines; and (vi) “Fraud Detected through Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) and its Techniques” tool.

In addition, the joint WCO-INTERPOL “List of dual-use commodities related to biological weapons” was presented. This publication serves as a practical tool for front-line officers, allowing them to learn more about both controlled and non-controlled commodities that may potentially be used in the production and dissemination of biological weapons.

Turning to technology, the meeting noted the ongoing roll-out of the WCO GEOPORTAL tool for fighting drug trafficking carried out via general aviation, as well as the new features of the CENcomm tool. With respect to the topic of data, the meeting acknowledged Members’ significant efforts to enhance the quality of Customs Enforcement Network (CEN) data as well as the work done to date on the Illicit Trade Report 2024.

The 45^th Session of the Enforcement Committee also provided an opportunity to highlight the latest private sector and academia initiatives in the fight against drug trafficking. Delegates listened to presentations on the results of and lessons learned from global and regional operations. These included operations in the environmental domain, namely Operation THUNDER 2024 on countering wildlife and timber trafficking and Operation DEMETER X on waste and substances, and operations in the intellectual property rights (IPR) domain, namely Action IPR A/P III and Operation FRONPIAS.

Participants also welcomed the outcomes of the WCO Symposiums on “Removing counterfeits from e-commerce”, which aimed to raise public awareness about the dangers of buying fake goods online.

In his closing remarks, the Acting Director of Compliance and Facilitation, Brendan O'Hearn, expressed his satisfaction with the high level of multidisciplinary expertise demonstrated during the five-day meeting.

The 45^th Session of the Enforcement Committee concluded with the election of Rebecca Jonassen from New Zealand as Chairperson, and Oumou Kéita Traoré from Mali as Vice-Chairperson for the 46^th Session of the Enforcement Committee in 2026.