Improving the Border Agency Cooperation
Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade
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Joint operations: Joint operation Meerkat, (23-27 July 2012) involving the World Customs
Organization and INTERPOL against the illicit trafficking of cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol in
East and Southern Africa resulted in the seizure of tons of illicitly traded products in seven
countries. Operation Meerkat saw Customs and police authorities carry out some 40 raids at
seaports, inland border crossing points, markets and shops in Angola, Kenya, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. More than 32 million cigarettes – equivalent to
1.6 million packets, 134 tons of raw tobacco and almost 3,000 litres of alcohol were seized,
resulting in national authorities initiating a number of administrative investigations into tax
evasion and other potential criminal offences.
Collaborative criminal investigations & prosecutions: In the United States, the Border
Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) units gather officers from more than 100 different
law enforcement agencies under one roof. The objective is to identify, investigate, disrupt and
dismantle transnational organisations posing the greatest threat to border security, public
safety and national security. To achieve that objective, the full range of federal, state, local,
tribal and international law enforcement resources is employed. Over the years, the BEST has
become a successful interagency law enforcement collaboration model that’s keeping the US
safer.
1.3.4. BAC activities with supply chain companies as well as government agencies
as beneficiaries
The final five BAC actions can bring instant benefits to all parties in cross-border supply
chains, in terms of lowering costs and improving performance – both from the perspective of
supply chain companies as well as that of governmental agencies.
‘Single window’ -type import/ export/ transit data submissions: In the Netherlands, the
authorities have designed government’s ‘electronic post office’ for businesses, called Digipoort.
It provides the communication infrastructure for the exchange of digital information between
companies and government authorities. Digipoort enables companies to submit import and
export information at a single entry point aimed at multiple government authorities.
Common risk indicators, risk profiles & targeting systems: In Finland, common databases
are linked to the different agencies’ operational and risk management databases, leading to a
common approach when a ‘signal’ is recorded. Some control and enforcement officers have
access to each other’s systems on a need-to-know basis, with levels of restricted access
determined by rank and functional responsibility.
Mutual recognition of supply chain inspection procedures & outcomes: As part of the
European Union funded research and development project, FP7-CORE21, the phytosanitary and
customs administrations in Kenya and the Netherlands are working towards mutual
recognition of controls carried out by Kenyan authorities, as well as the exploitation of digital
phytosanitary certificates and other trade documents, between the two countries. Outside of
the research and development projects (like FP7-CORE), mutual recognitions (MR) of customs
inspections are being explored for example in the context of EU MR Agreements, for example
with Japan.
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