In response to this risk, and to address the threat posed by illegal products such as dangerous, sub-standard or counterfeit medicines and vaccines, the World Customs Organization (WCO) has just launched a new initiative entitled “Project on the urgent need for facilitation and coordinated Customs control of cross-border consignments linked to COVID-19”.

Customs officers prevent migrants from crossing the state border illegally hidden among the goods in truck loads on a daily basis, and the fact that 1,148 people were prevented in this plan last year alone shows that they are more than successful.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) has been implementing the WCO Strategic Trade Control Enforcement (STCE) Programme since July 2016 with the objective of prevention and detection of cross-border trafficking of chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear (CBRN) substances and strategic dual-use goods.

16th Global Meeting of WCO Regional Structures was held on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 February 2021.

WCO Global webinar series on improving awareness of COVID-19 Vaccines will continue with 2nd serie from 15 to 16 March 2021 with Moderna.

On 18 February 2021, the European Commission has set out its trade strategy for the coming years. Reflecting the concept of open strategic autonomy, it builds on the EU's openness to contribute to the economic recovery through support for the green and digital transformations, as well as a renewed focus on strengthening multilateralism and reforming global trade rules to ensure that they are fair

WTO members on 15 February agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General.

For all goods brought into the EU Flag of European Union customs territory, express carriers Airplane and postal operators European post office will have to provide a minimum set of advance electronic data, starting from 15 March 2021.

A major operation involving the National Crime Agency has the resulted in the seizure of 4.2 tonnes of cocaine that was destined for Europe.

On January 29, 2021, negotiations were held between interested state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan and China on the functioning of checkpoints on the Kazakh-Chinese border in the conditions of COVID-19.

Travel to Finland and Sweden - restrictions and bans Sweden has introduced an entry ban to Sweden from Norway for non-Swedish citizens which applies from 25 January - 14 February. Finland has also introduced an entry ban for unnecessary travel between 27 January and 25 February.

In 2020, more than 2.3 million cargo vehicles passed through the customs border of Belarus, which is 5% more than in 2018. The volume of goods, moved by road, reached almost 30 million tons and increased by 5.9% compared to 2018.