As part of the continuous commitment of the World Customs Organization (WCO) to mitigate Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT), a diagnostic mission and an implementation mission were carried out in Nigeria in November and December 2019 respectively, under the auspices of the WCO INAMA Project.

The Project, funded by the US Department of State and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) aims to strengthen the enforcement capacities of targeted Customs administrations in the field of IWT, focusing specifically on the species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The objective of the two missions was to provide assistance to the Nigeria Customs Service in the field of Illegal Wildlife Trade, particularly in relation with Risk Management.

During the diagnostic mission, two WCO Accredited experts conducted a thorough evaluation of the administration’s IWT Risk Management framework, legal parameters as well as processes and procedures, according to WCO’s standards and international best practices.

The implementation mission consisted of high-level discussions around the topic and a training focused on the development of IWT Risk Profiles, attended by almost 100 officers from both head office and port level.
Similar missions are being conducted in Malawi and Vietnam, and will be followed by an international Risk Management workshop.

These activities were funded by GiZ.