The WCO in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) and Hong Kong Customs organized a WCO Asia Pacific Regional Workshop on Intelligence Management at the Regional Training Center in Hong Kong, China from 10 to 13 February 2015 under the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) of Japan. In addition to the WCO Accredited Risk Management Advisors from Japan and Sri Lanka along with ROCB A/P and RILO A/P representatives, 33 participants from 27 countries participated in the workshop.

In their opening remarks, Mr. Thomas Lin, Assistant Commissioner of Hong Kong Customs, as well as the WCO and CCF-Japan representatives highlighted the importance of intelligence and risk management in Customs’ daily work. They also emphasized the relationships between intelligence-driven / risk-based selectivity and effective resource allocation, facilitation and controls.

Although intelligence was the main topic of the workshop, several elements of risk management at operational level were also covered. In addition, the workshop included syndicate group works, practical exercises and case studies. Each session was followed by questions and answers.

This workshop gave the participants the opportunity to better understand risk management with regards to  the enforcement, security and facilitation requirements as well as intelligence which is a key component of risk management and is primarily used by Customs decision-makers at all levels to support their decision-making processes at strategic, tactical or operational levels.

During the 4-day workshop, participants discussed how to collect and analyze information in order to produce several intelligence products.  They also discussed how to develop an effective profile by using the methodology explained in the WCO Customs Risk Management Compendium. Case studies and practical exercises also contributed to their further understanding of the various topics.