On 7 December 2021, a launch event to mark Mexico's participation in the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme was held at Mexico City International Airport. The A-CIP Programme was developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and receives funding from Canada.
The Programme was presented by Mr. Horacio Duarte Olivares, General Administrator of Customs of Mexico; Mr. Ricardo Treviño Chapa, Deputy Secretary General of the WCO; and Ms. Virginia de Abajo Marqués, Regional Anti-Corruption Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. They stressed the importance of fighting corruption and the efforts made by the Mexican Government in this regard, before affirming the commitment of their respective institutions to work together in implementing the A-CIP Programme in Mexico.
The rollout of the Programme in Mexico, over a three-year period (2021-2024), will enable the country’s General Administration of Customs to develop sustainable strategies and actions to combat corruption and promote integrity during the transition period towards becoming the National Customs Agency of Mexico. To that end, Mexico has assembled a team of 15 experts in various fields who, together with the WCO, will analyse the current state of Mexican Customs and define the latter’s priority focus areas for the coming years.