The World Customs Organization (WCO) continues to see evidence that illicit trade in all its forms is growing exponentially. This poses a grave risk to our economies and societies and requires a concerted multi-stakeholder effort.
The WCO believes that in this complex and hyper- connected world all stakeholders must work together harnessing all available technologies if the fight against illicit trade is to be successful.
The WCO created the IPM platform to support the efforts of Customs services and for the potential of this unique tool to be realized, it is now time to offer it to a broader range of stakeholders outside the Organization’s scope. In order to make this possible the WCO has decided to transfer the ownership and further development of IPM to PSS, a wholly owned subsidiary of TechTrace and our longstanding partner and technology provider, whom will expand the scope of the IPM platform, making it available to all relevant agencies and governments active in the fight against illicit trade.
"WCO has achieved significant progress in meeting the challenges posed by illicit trade. IPM is a unique and the only global tool in a war which requires us to be ever more innovative. It is time for IPM to move to a new phase which will enable broader international cooperation which is crucial to our continued success," said Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya.
The Secretary General encourages all WCO Members and stakeholders of the IPM platform to continue to give their active support to the programme. He underlined that better data which would result from the transition would enable the WCO and its Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) network to develop better and more thorough analytical products for the international Customs community.
Hans Schwab, Chairman of PSS thanked the Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya for the confidence that the WCO had placed in PSS. He assured present and future stakeholders that he would do everything possible to make this transition a success working to promote the continued growth and expansion of IPM to a multi-stakeholder platform.
In order to ensure a smooth transition, the transfer will be gradual with a hand over scheduled to be completed over the coming months.