The WCO Strategic Trade Control Enforcement (STCE) Programme and the WCO Customs and Operational Practices for Enforcement and Seizures (COPES) Programme held a training course in Dakar, Senegal, from 20 to 24 June 2022. This first in-person training session for the COPES-STCE Project was delivered with the support of the United States Department of State (the donor) and Senegal Customs.

The training, involving 20 senior managers from Senegal Customs, was given in French by COPES and STCE training experts. It was also an opportunity for the accreditation of three pre-accredited experts from the COPES Programme and the STCE Programme. The ongoing desire to train new experts and share best practices lies at the heart of the two programmes. Through this training, it was possible to complete the process of accreditation of experts who had previously taken part in train-the-trainers sessions held by the WCO.

The objective of these new STCE-COPES training sessions is to increase the emphasis on controls on cross-border transfers of dual-use products, to facilitate the adoption of universal standards for strategic trade control enforcement (STCE) and also to enhance Customs best practices in relation to procedures for seizures of strategic goods, so that investigations and prosecutions can be carried out effectively.

The STCE-COPES Project would like to express its sincere thanks to the Senegal Directorate General of Customs and, in particular, its Deputy Director General, Mr. Moctar Kettani Doucoure, for their cooperation and hospitality. It also thanks the EXBS (Export Border Control and Related Border Security) Program of the United States Department of State for its financial support and expertise in the field.

For further information on the COPES Programme, please send your enquiries to: Copes@wcoomd.org.

For more information on the STCE Programme, please contact: WCOSecurityProgramme@wcoomd.org.