On December 2015, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) issued a resolution (the Punta Cana resolution) in response to terrorist attacks in Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon, France, Mali and other countries, as well as on a Russian airliner over Egypt.
This Resolution is considered as essential for custom community as UNSCR 1540 was for trade control.
In its resolution, the WCO recognises the central role of customs in tacking cross-border provision of material support to terrorism and terrorist financing.
For this reason, the WCO commits to supporting Customs in enhancing border security capabilities and invites them to use the full range of detection and investigative techniques (including risk profiling, API[1]/PNR[2] analysis, intelligence sharing, controlled deliveries, etc.).
The resolution also advocates a deeper engagement with partner intergovernmental organisations and encourages governments to provide financial, human and service support to Customs authorities, which are also encouraged to seek powers where they do not have sufficient powers to make their contribution in the fight against terrorism.
Actions to implement the resolution will be normally decided at the next WCO Council.
[1] Advance Passenger Information (API) refers to a passenger’s identity such as full name, date of birth and nationality. API is typically obtained from travel documents such as passports (“interactive API”).
[2] Passenger Name Records (PNR) are collected by airlines solely for their business purposes. PNRs contain information about bookings made which can include as little as a name, an itinerary and a ticket indicator. Accuracy is not guaranteed and PNRs can contain sensitive personal data.