Imagine a future where customs officers not only master traditional procedures but also harness big data, cybersecurity, and seamless private-sector collaboration to combat smuggling and facilitate trade. This isn't science fiction—it's the vision the World Customs Organization (WCO) is actively working to realize. To adapt to the rapidly evolving global trade environment and cultivate forward-thinking customs professionals, the WCO has launched a comprehensive upgrade of its PICARD Professional Standards (PS). The second PICARD Professional Standards review meeting, held on September 13, 2018, at WCO headquarters in Brussels, marked a crucial milestone in this ambitious initiative.
PICARD Professional Standards: A Decade of Excellence
Over the past ten years, the PICARD Professional Standards have become the cornerstone for academic development, internal training, and university curriculum accreditation in the customs field. These standards have elevated the profession's status while providing clear career guidance for customs managers worldwide. WCO Deputy Secretary General Ricardo Treviño Chapa emphasized during the meeting that the PICARD Professional Standards have achieved remarkable success and made significant contributions to the professionalization of customs operations.
The Need for Change: Adapting to a Transforming Landscape
The global trade environment is undergoing unprecedented transformation. The explosive growth of e-commerce, increasingly complex supply chains, and evolving security threats present new challenges for customs administrations. To address these challenges, the WCO has initiated a comprehensive revision of the PICARD Professional Standards to ensure their relevance in the new operational environment and incorporate emerging factors from the past decade. This revision aims to create more forward-looking and practical standards that will form the foundation for training the next generation of customs professionals.
Global Expertise: Shaping the Future Together
The WCO's standards revision has garnered strong support from leading academic and research institutions worldwide. Experts from Russia's Northwestern Institute of Management (RANEPA), Charles Sturt University (Australia), the University of Münster (Germany), the University of Costa Rica, the Cross-Border Research Association (Switzerland), and Riga Technical University (Latvia) gathered in Brussels to contribute their specialized knowledge and practical experience. Their participation ensures the revised standards accurately reflect current global trends and best practices in customs operations.
Key Focus Areas: Three Core Elements
The updated PICARD Professional Standards will emphasize three critical components designed to enhance customs officers' comprehensive capabilities:
- Public-Private Cooperation: Strengthening collaboration between customs and private sector entities to combat smuggling and facilitate trade. The revised standards will cover all aspects of public-private partnerships, including information sharing, risk management, and capacity building, aiming to establish mutually beneficial relationships.
- Customs-Revenue Integration: Enhancing coordination between customs and tax authorities to improve revenue collection efficiency and combat tax evasion. The standards will address information sharing, risk management, and joint inspections to create an effective tax administration system.
- Coordinated Border Management: Improving inter-agency cooperation at borders to enhance management efficiency and national security. The standards will cover information sharing, joint operations, and capacity building to establish secure and efficient border management systems.
Emerging Trends: Technology and Efficiency
Beyond these core elements, the revised PICARD Professional Standards will address emerging trends including:
- Security: Strengthening customs' role in national security by combating terrorism, smuggling, and other illegal activities through improved risk assessment, security technology applications, and international cooperation.
- Trade Facilitation: Streamlining customs procedures and reducing trade costs through simplified measures, technological applications, and international cooperation.
- Technological Advancements: Incorporating big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies to improve customs efficiency and reduce operational costs.
- Project Management: Enhancing customs officers' project execution capabilities through improved processes, tools, and skills development.
Looking Ahead: The 13th PICARD Conference in Turkey
Following the Brussels meeting, participants prepared for the 13th PICARD Conference scheduled for October 2018 in Turkey. This gathering will facilitate in-depth discussions about the future development of PICARD Professional Standards, bringing together customs experts, government officials, and industry representatives to share knowledge and explore how to best implement these standards to enhance customs administration and global trade.
The WCO's revision of the PICARD Professional Standards represents both a reflection on past achievements and a vision for the future. By incorporating global expertise and reshaping professional benchmarks, the WCO aims to reinvigorate customs training worldwide and contribute to the prosperity of international trade. The organization anticipates widespread adoption of the revised standards and their continued contribution to the professional development of customs administrations globally.