From 3 to 5 September 2023, the Nepal Department of Customs (DoC) and WCO experts met with diverse groups of stakeholders to analyse the results of the second iteration of the Customs Integrity Perception Survey (CIPS) that was carried out in Nepal in January and February 2023 with the support of the WCO Anti-Corruption & Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme.
Following scoping activities conducted with Nepal in 2019, an A-CIP project plan was developed, identifying priorities on which the WCO's technical assistance and capacity building (TACB) support under the Programme would focus. This in-country mission contributed to the specific priority, “Public perceptions and confidence in DoC Customs operations and administration improved through active communication” and is related to the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration key factor, Relationship with the Private Sector.
During the meetings, the results of each of the key factors were analysed one by one. The DoC explained the steps the Administration is taking in each of them. Stakeholders played a continually active role, commenting on their needs and providing ideas for improvement of the DoC's activities and possibilities for joint work to fight corruption.
These meetings are a continuation of the meetings held in 2022, where the results of the first survey iteration were discussed.
The results obtained are highly satisfactory. Stakeholders highlighted the usefulness of these meetings and noted the positive change that had been seen in customs and stakeholders working together since the previous meetings.
Special mention should be made of the workshop held with women entrepreneurs from Nepal, where the specific challenges they face in their day-to-day dealings with Customs were brought to the table and women's participation in trade-related business was promoted.
The WCO A-CIP Programme supports more than 20 WCO Member administrations, with funding from Norad and Canada. For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.