Customs Fostering Sustainability: Leading by Example in the International Arena

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is setting the context for using the recovery opportunity to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are also longer-term resilience goals. The sense of urgency in clarifying Customs' role in the UN sustainability agenda becomes clear in a scenario marked by global interconnections and unpredictable patterns of risk transmission, where any regulatory inefficiency is placed under the spotlight, and trust in governments' effectiveness in tackling pressing global challenges is declining. In this context, raising awareness of Customs' role is proposed as a key step towards mainstreaming sustainability for Customs. The variety of the supporting World Customs Organization (WCO) tools in the recent WCO publication ‘Customs fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet - Looking back on the WCO theme for 2020‘ highlights the key drivers of Customs’ contribution to sustainability in those areas. In balancing a cooperative and coercive approach, trade facilitation and enforcement, Customs has a key role not only in ensuring the efficiency and security of supply chains, enhancing revenue mobilization and economic growth, but also in environmental protection and the safety of society. Customs coordinated border management is central to an integrated, regulatory response to the dilemmas involving collective action which are inherent to sustainability interventions.