News
The World Customs Organization (WCO) completed in October the implementation of its National Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) application in the fifth country of the Asia-Pacific region, in Sri Lanka. Following the successful implementation of the nCEN in 18 African countries, Asia is becoming the next continent where the nCEN application is making its mark.
The National Customs Enforcement Network (nCEN) is a system developed by the WCO to assist Customs administrations with the collection and storage of law-enforcement information on the national level, with the additional capability to exchange this information at the regional and international levels. Through the adoption of the nCEN, administrations have the ability to manage information on all aspect of their law-enforcement functions, including seizures and offenses and suspected persons or business entities, within a modern national system that can be standalone or used in a networked environment.
Asia Pacific is one of the biggest regions within the WCO regional structure. With five countries currently using the nCEN application (Maldives, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka), the foundations of a regional network are beginning to take shape. The WCO global nCEN deployment strategy has always centered on a regional approach, namely the sharing of ideas and actions among neighboring countries to achieve the same regional objectives. The WCO hopes that the current momentum in the region will result in more countries joining the nCEN network.
