At the invitation of Mr. Fabrice Leggeri, Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya spoke at the 23rd International Border Police Conference (IBPC) entitled “Ensuring Global Security through Integrated Border Management”. This event, held in Warsaw (Poland) on 7 November 2017, was attended by some 150 participants from 60 countries representing the international border security community.
In his keynote address, Secretary General Mikuriya explained the multiple functions of Customs and, in particular, the Customs outlook on a joint response to emerging trends in organized crime. He emphasized the four elements of the Compliance and Enforcement Package to address emerging and evolving risks at borders, namely: (i) tools on risk management, including the SAFE Framework of Standards; (ii) a technological platform that supports information sharing as well as collecting and analysing data, including the CEN applications; (iii) coordination with regulatory and law enforcement agencies; and (iv) enforcement operations for capacity building. Dr. Mikuriya referred to the 2015 addition to the SAFE Framework of Standards of a third pillar on "Cooperation with other governmental agencies" as another example of the growing significance of coordinated border management both with regulatory and law enforcement agencies.
Following this introductory speech, Secretary General Mikuriya and Executive Director Leggeri participated in a panel session where they both agreed on the importance of strengthening collaboration and trust, including intelligence sharing between border agencies for efficient and effective border management. The Heads of both Organizations also held a bilateral meeting to explore areas of future cooperation and discuss rapidly evolving security challenges.