New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS) is assisting the WCO by conducting a pilot of the newly developed air cargo capability for the WCO Cargo Targeting System (WCO CTS). NZCS has extensive experience and expertise in cargo risk assessment and targeting and will be fully testing and evaluating the WCO CTS during a 3 month trial.

The WCO travelled to New Zealand during week commencing 10 October 2016 to launch the pilot and conduct training with NZCS personnel who will be using the WCO CTS. The findings of the pilot will be incorporated into the system before existing WCO CTS deployments are upgraded and the new capability becomes available to all WCO Members.

The enhancement of the WCO CTS to include conventional air cargo and express consignments comes 3 years after the WCO first launched the system for maritime containers. During that time the WCO CTS has been deployed to a number of WCO Members with more scheduled in the coming months

The WCO CTS is a cargo manifest risk assessment and targeting solution developed by the WCO for Customs administrations across the globe that require such capability. It allows those adopting the solution to implement international best practice cargo risk assessment including key pillars of the WCO’s SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade.

For more information on the WCO CTS project please contact cargotargetingsystem@wcoomd.org

Photograph: (left to right) Philip Hague, Craig Chitty and Brian Cotton from New Zealand Customs Service’s Integrated Targeting Operations Centre (ITOC) are joined by the WCO’s Cristian Moldovan and Robert White for the launch of the WCO CTS air cargo pilot.