In the first week of March 2015, the WCO launched its national Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) application in Georgia, the first European country to benefit from this software. The nCEN is already operational in several countries of the East and Southern Africa region as well as in Western Africa, namely Mauritius, Namibia, Swaziland, the Seychelles, Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Mali, and Tanzania.

The Georgian launch of the nCEN was concluded with a training workshop organized in Tbilisi, where a group of chosen officers from the Georgia Revenue Service acquired practical knowledge on the functionality of the system, a theoretical background on data gathering and the analytical possibilities provided by the nCEN application, as well as the additional data mining and information exchange potential of the remaining applications in the CEN suite.

The nCEN consists of three independent databases (a seizure database, a suspect database, and a company database), as well as a communication component. The core database of national seizures and offences comprises data required for analysis, including means of conveyance, routes, and the possibility to view photos, for example depicting exceptional concealment methods. Two supplementary databases contain information on suspected persons and offending business entities, facilitating a structured investigation process.

The nCEN software is made available to all WCO Members free of charge. The costs of the hardware needed to run the nCEN application, the costs associated with the training, and possible costs for modifications to the local IT infrastructure (if applicable), are however the responsibility of the implementing Customs Administration. More information on the nCEN can be obtained by contacting the WCO CEN Program at nCEN@wcoomd.org.