The TFA requests all national border authorities/agencies to cooperate with each other and coordinate border control and procedures to facilitate trade. Such cooperation and coordination may include alignment of working days and hours, alignment of procedures and formalities, development and sharing of common facilities, joint controls and establishment of one stop border post control.

Standard 3.35 of the Revised Kyoto Convention lays down the principle that the Customs inspection of goods should take place in coordination with other competent authorities. The SAFE Framework of Standards takes the same approach as the TFA text.

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1. A Member shall ensure that its authorities and agencies responsible for border controls and procedures dealing with the importation, exportation and transit of goods cooperate with one another and coordinate their activities in order to facilitate trade.

2.  Members shall, to the extent possible and practicable, cooperate on mutually agreed terms with other Members with whom they share a common border with a view to coordinating procedures at border crossings to facilitate cross-border trade. Such cooperation and coordination may include:

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General Annex Chapter - 3 (Clearance and other Customs Formalities)

Transitional Standard 3.35 lays down the principle that Customs inspection of goods should take place in coordination with other competent authorities.  It requires that Customs establish effective communications with other competent authorities and, where possible, carry out their examination at the same time as the other authorities. This will ensure timely and efficient clearance of goods, thereby optimizing the use of resources and expertise.

3.35. Transitional Standard

If the goods must be inspected by other competent authorities and the Customs also schedules an examination, the Customs shall ensure that the inspections are co-ordinated and, if possible, carried out at the same time.

RKC Guidelines on RKC General Annex  - Chapter 3  (download)

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SAFE Framework of Standards (download)

The SAFE Framework includes, among other things, addition of a new Pillar 3 to foster closer cooperation between Customs and other government agencies, ensuring an efficient and effective government response to the challenges of supply chain security.

Coordinated Border Management Compendium

The Coordinated Border Management (CBM) Compendium is helpful for WCO Members in their attempts to develop and implement CBM in their countries by incorporating best practices on different areas of CBM that Members could take reference from.

Single Window Compendium

To support capacity building efforts, the WCO has developed a Compendium on “Building a Single Window Environment”. The WCO SW Compendium was updated in 2017 and was endorsed by the Council in the same year July session. The new Compendium, which still consists of two Volumes, the Chapters have been re-named as Parts (Part I, Part II, etc.). Each Part focuses on a particular area of the SW Environment, providing comprehensive guidance on building blocks of Single Window implementation. Structural and editorial improvements have been made to some Parts, and four new Parts have been developed.

• Volume 1 (download)
• Volume 2 (download)

Single Window Supplement (download)

The Supplement provides a succinct approach to the Single Window concept, which would be useful to Members and other stakeholders in the implementation/enhancement of Single Window environment. The Supplement would serve as a supplementary training package for national and regional Technical Assistance and Capacity Building activities. It was suggested to include best practices to the Supplement.

WCO Data Model

The WCO Data Model (DM) has been the data foundation for global trade interoperability for over two decades. It was developed to provide a universal language for cross-border data exchange enabling the implementation of Single Window systems and fueling Data Analytics. It is a compilation of clearly structured, harmonized, standardized, and reusable sets of data definitions and electronic messages designed to meet the operational and legal requirements of Customs and other cross-border regulatory agencies (CBRAs) responsible for border management.

WCO Data Model App

Data Model Flyer (download)

Data Model general brochure (download)

Data Model Business Guide (download)

WCO Data Model Data Harmonization (download)

Guidelines on Customs-Tax Cooperation (download)

The Guidelines aim to provide reference guidance to Customs and Tax authorities who wish to go further in their cooperation and develop operational models which enable agencies to work together to their mutual benefit.

Revised Arusha Declaration Concerning Good Governance and Integrity in Customs (download)
A digital version of the Declaration is also available here: http://rad.wcoomd.org
The Declaration outlines 10 key factors that an effective national Customs integrity programme must address. It is closely linked with the transparency and predictability measures of the WTO TFA and WCO RKC.  Key Factor 2 specifically pertains to Regulatory Framework and emphasizes that “Customs laws, regulations, administrative guidelines and procedures should be harmonized and simplified to the greatest extent possible so that Customs formalities can proceed without undue burden.” 
The Integrity Development Guide and other WCO integrity-related instruments and tools are available to support implementation of this Declaration.

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Coordinated Border Management in the Netherlands (WCO News, February 2015) (download)

Managing land borders, the innovative Finnish model (WCO News, February 2015) (download)

The Joint Border Management System (JBMS) (New Zealand) (download) (submitted in 2016)

CBM Compendium introduces case studies of Germany, Singapore and United States

(The Compendium is available on the WCO Members’ Website)

• Armenia (submitted in 2023)
• Botswana (submitted in 2023)
• Colombia (submitted in 2023)
• Fiji (submitted in 2023)
• Guatemala (submitted in 2023)
• Hong Kong (submitted in 2023)
• Mauritius (submitted in 2023)
• Mexico (submitted in 2023)
• Panama (submitted in 2023)
• Singapore (submitted in 2023)

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