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WCO works with Ukraine to anchor anti-corruption measures to operational realities

•    Since May 2024, the WCO has been supporting the State Customs Service of Ukraine (SCSU) in strengthening integrity and identifying vulnerabilities to corruption in Customs procedures.
•    In October 2026, Customs officers from four Ukrainian cities worked together to map key work processes before assessing corruption risks and applying practical risk management tools.
•    The workshop combined conceptual presentations, practical exercises, and a field visit to a key Customs land border crossing point. 
 

In October 2026, the WCO, through the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme, organized a workshop which brought together Ukrainian Customs officers from Lviv, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa regions to examine vulnerabilities in Customs processes and identify opportunities to prevent corruption. Participants applied practical tools such as process maps and risk registers in doing so. Inspired by a study visit at the Hamburg Customs Office in Germany and supported by experts from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Swedish Customs, the activity illustrated how international cooperation can spark ideas and enable concrete steps forward in building accountable, effective and trusted Customs administrations.

(Participants attending the workshop)

Identifying risks before they become problems

Enhancing the capacity to manage corruption risks is an essential part of any strategy aiming at strengthening integrity in Customs. This requires systematic identification of vulnerabilities in procedures and working environments, so that preventive actions can be taken and internal controls improved.

During the four-day workshop, participants from SCSU’s risk management and corruption prevention departments worked on mapping processes and developing corruption risk registers, two essential activities for administrations to understand how processes operate and identify points where corruption risks may arise.