The World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a Risk Management Workshop for the Ethiopian Customs Commission (ECC) in Addis Ababa from 30 September to 4 October 2024. This workshop, financially supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), was attended by ECC Risk Management managers and technical experts. It focused on consolidating and strengthening ECC’s risk management capability, aligning with the goals of the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme for Customs.
Facilitated by two WCO-accredited experts from Sweden and Poland Customs Administrations, the workshop was a follow-up to earlier missions, including an in-country mission in May 2023 and a virtual meeting in November 2023. During these sessions, twenty (20) recommendations were developed to guide ECC’s efforts in enhancing its risk management practices.
Throughout the week-long workshop, participants actively engaged in in-depth discussions and practical exercises, providing a hands-on development experience. They explored key topics such as automated profiling, expansion of risk management into security, and development of a central risk register. Additionally, sessions were held on data extraction simplification and techniques to improve the analysis of passenger and cargo risks, contributing to more effective Customs operations.
This workshop provided an excellent platform for participants to explore best practices in risk assessment, profiling, and targeting while fostering cooperation among various ECC departments.
Using the WCO Customs Risk Management Compendium also enabled participants to understand better how to operationalize risk management principles within their organization, ultimately aiming to enhance trade facilitation and border security.
The workshop concluded with a session to validate the takeaways and recommendations, paving the way for future actions.
The Ethiopian Customs Commission expressed its appreciation to the WCO for its continued support and reaffirmed its commitment to applying the knowledge gained from the workshop to strengthen its Customs risk management framework further, highlighting the potential long-term impact of the workshop.The WCO A-CIP Programme, funded by Norway, is a comprehensive initiative that provides technical assistance and capacity-building support to WCO Member administrations implementing integrity-related initiatives in line with the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration. The Programme aims to enhance the integrity and transparency of Customs operations and promote anti-corruption efforts. For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.