INTEGRITY ACTION PLAN

Transcription

1 World Customs Organization INTEGRITY ACTION PLAN.. the very steps you would take to reform government to reduce corruption are the same steps you would take to reform government to increase efficiency. - Al Gore, Vice President of the United States of America, Global Forum on Fighting Corruption - 24 February 1999.

2 WCO Integrity Action Plan PREAMBLE Strategic Focus: A focus of the WCO Strategic Plan is to foster professional, transparent Customs administrations that recognise high ethical standards. The WCO is conscious of the practical contributions that customs can and must make to vigorous, free and expanding word trade. Many Customs apply national requirements on goods passing over frontiers in the best traditions of public service and integrity. There are, however, even in the best administrations, occasional individual lapses. Furthermore the WCO is well aware that, usually for deep-rooted historical or cultural reasons, certain services have fallen, generally below requisite standards of performances and behaviour. Some of these administrations have been obliged to seek temporary relief in systems of pre-shipment inspection, provided by outside agencies. These have settled, over many years, into rigid and costly procedures, largely isolated from the radical control and facilitation improvements introduced by modern Custom services. The WCO needs to lead and guide what is now a clear international governmental and commercial interest in appropriate Customs reforms, including the progressive replacement of pre-shipment inspection regimes by efficient and honest Customs services. Much of necessary external stimulus to remedial action, especially through central government and intergovernmental decisions, will come from individual businesses and their representative organisations. Goals: The WCO will: promote ethical, professional behaviour by Customs administrations through carefully articulated integrity policies and programmes; mobilise and encourage the deployment of professional Customs expertise to explain and maintain the highest standards of integrity among the WCO members; and stimulate and assist governments and businesses, and their international organisations, to enhance official and commercial integrity standards, in general, and those of Customs and their trade partners in particular.

3 Principles: To support the plan, the WCO must: position itself in the context of international developments and pressures; bring Integrity in Customs to notice at political level; set out practical steps to secure the inclusion of appropriate Customs provisions in international recommendations and conventions on Integrity ; utilise the WCO regional structure to ensure practical implementation of WCO Integrity strategies; co-operate with regional sponsors to implement national Integrity programmes; reaffirm that pre-shipment is not a solution to Customs Integrity problems, and set out and support viable alternative strategies acceptable to governments and lending agencies; promote the implementation of WCO conventions and instruments as a firm platform to fight corruption; devote appropriate resources for its implementation; foster an inter- and multi-agency approach; promote Integrity issues by participating in international discussions and actions with governments, organisations, private sector groups, other stakeholders and Members.

4 Leadership and Promotion Priority 1 Develop and maintain a WCO centre of expertise with the objectives to: Establish and maintain a WCO Secretariat resource centre on Integrity which will include: A library of best practices and case studies in the field of Integrity; Appropriate books, documentation, research papers etc; Integrity related training and education materials. Entries on the WCO Website with hot-links to related websites. Investigate and identify the nature and sources of relevant information (e.g. self-assessment questionnaires, reports). Research and analyse: best practices in the field of integrity; Codes of Conduct, Anti-corruption laws; Conventions and Recommendations; materials and documents resulting from the WCO Integrity Forum; instruments of ICC and other international organizations such as: OECD, World Bank etc.; existing models from Customs and other sources. Develop study papers on: Measurement of Customs efficiency Establishing Integrity best practices Measuring member s performance in the area of Integrity through self or mutual assessment Inclusion of Customs elements in other Conventions 15 days per year 5days 40 days 60 days 1

5 Leadership and Promotion (continued) Incorporate Integrity elements into the approach and content of technical assistance, training programmes and CRM projects. Conduct and co-ordinate regional and international seminars and national action-planning workshops on Integrity. Include Integrity themes in corporate publicity and supporting material to promote the work of the WCO and its conventions and instruments, including the Arusha Declaration. Ensure WCO participation in appropriate international fora such as, G8, WTO, 2 nd Global Forum on Fighting Corruption, OECD, ICC, etc. Survey Members on: how the Arusha Declaration is currently applied; and any deficiencies in content and application, and make appropriate recommendations. 30 days 20 days per year 5days 5 days per year 20 days Priority 2 Finalise, publish and distribute elements for Code of Conduct. Create opportunities for Members to establish networks enabling them to share experiences and information about their Integrity plans, best practices, methods of measurement, results and training. Strengthen the focus on Integrity activities within relevant Committees and in the application of WCO conventions and instruments. 5 days 10 days per year 10 days per year 2

6 Activities with Regional Focus Priority 1 Encourage and support Vice-Chairmen to give Integrity issues and activities a high priority through their regional plans and agendas for meetings. Ensure that cultural, economic and political aspects within each region are taken into account. Vice-Chairmen to ensure appropriate international linkages between emerging regional activities on Integrity and the global WCO Integrity agenda. Vice-Chairmen to provide support to the Secretariat in the development of study papers. 3

7 Activities with Private Sector Focus Priority 1 Develop consultation and co-operation with private sector (including the use of memoranda of understanding) with a view to developing practical contributions toward combating integrity problems. 10 days Priority 2 Regional private sector bodies to support Customs Integrity initiatives in their activities. Encourage adoption of codes of practice in the private sector. 4