Imagine a majestic African elephant, meant to roam freely across vast savannas, instead falling victim to illegal poaching for its ivory tusks. This represents not just the loss of a single life, but a threat to entire ecosystems. As illegal trade in endangered species grows increasingly rampant, Zambia Customs is pursuing transformative changes with crucial support from the World Customs Organization (WCO).
Through its INAMA project—funded by Sweden, the U.S. Department of State, Germany's GIZ, and the CITES Secretariat—the WCO continues supporting the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in enhancing its intelligence capabilities. The core objective of this collaboration is strengthening ZRA's capacity to collect, process, and disseminate intelligence for more effective enforcement against illegal wildlife trade.
Strategic Assessment and Recommendations
To achieve these goals, a WCO expert team conducted an intensive assessment mission in Lusaka from April 24-28, 2018, building upon a diagnostic evaluation performed in December 2016. The initial assessment had identified ZRA's key strengths and areas needing improvement in intelligence operations, along with targeted recommendations.
Based on these findings, the WCO team provided strategic guidance to help ZRA streamline intelligence functions and prioritize next steps. This mission was financially supported by Germany's GIZ.
Key Areas of Capacity Building
The WCO's technical assistance focused on four critical operational areas:
- Enhanced Intelligence Collection: Experts helped optimize ZRA's intelligence gathering processes, including identifying potential illegal trade activities, utilizing multiple intelligence sources, and improving interagency information sharing. This involved training customs officers in recognizing suspicious shipments, analyzing trade data, and employing technological surveillance methods.
- Advanced Intelligence Analysis: Beyond collection, the mission emphasized transforming raw intelligence into actionable insights through improved analytical techniques. Customs personnel received training in analytical methodologies, specialized tools, and applying intelligence findings to operational decisions.
- Streamlined Intelligence Dissemination: The team assisted in developing more efficient mechanisms to ensure timely distribution of intelligence to frontline officers and partner agencies, significantly improving interdiction effectiveness. This included establishing information-sharing platforms and standardized protocols.
- Comprehensive Risk Management: WCO experts supported the development of robust risk assessment frameworks to identify and mitigate wildlife trafficking threats. The enhanced system incorporates risk modeling, targeted monitoring strategies, and focused inspections of high-risk commodities and routes.
Global Conservation Impact
These collaborative efforts are helping Zambia establish a more sophisticated intelligence infrastructure to combat wildlife trafficking—a contribution that extends beyond national borders to global biodiversity conservation.
As a transnational criminal enterprise, illegal wildlife trade requires coordinated international responses. The WCO-INAMA initiative exemplifies such cooperation, providing technical assistance and strategic guidance to strengthen customs enforcement capacities across developing nations.
Similar programs have been implemented in other African countries through the INAMA project, demonstrating measurable success in disrupting illicit trade networks. However, significant challenges persist, including increasingly sophisticated smuggling techniques and inconsistent legal penalties across jurisdictions.
Effective long-term solutions will require intensified international collaboration—enhancing intelligence sharing, harmonizing legislation, increasing enforcement resources, and raising public awareness about conservation imperatives. Only through such multilateral efforts can endangered species be safeguarded for future generations.