The Directorate-General for Customs wants to fight effectively against corruption that undermines its activities. Indeed, in 2019 it occupied the second rank of the most corrupt institutions in Burkina Faso according to the REN-LAC ranking. To change the situation, the customs administration officially launched on November 19, 2020, its anti-corruption and integrity promotion program. The programme is supported by the World Customs Organization and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CPI) programme is part of the promotion of the Arusha Declaration signed in 1993 and revised in 2003. Indeed, this declaration is a materialization of the will of the World Customs Organization (WCO) to fight against corruption. A fight that can only be effective in the context of global efforts at the national level according to the WCO.

The Arusha Declaration also states that an effective national customs ethics programme must take into account 10 main factors, including the conduct and commitment of officials, the regulatory framework, transparency, empowerment, modernization reforms, controls and investigations, etc.

Adama Nana, Senior Technical Inspector representing the Director General of Customs.

Implemented since January 2019 and expected to extend until 2024, the program has already made it possible to carry out several activities. These include the development of the Customs Ethics Guide and the state of play of the fight against corruption at the level of Customs administrations. The launch of the program on November 19 coincides with that of activity n°5, which will consist in collecting the opinion of contributors.

"We have set up working groups that will reflect on the key factors of the Arusha Declaration. Each group will work on 2 of the 10 factors. For example, a group will look at its feelings, its opinion on the commitment of the first officials of the customs administration to fight against corruption. These contributions will then be processed by the programme and a document will be produced to give internal advice to customs officers on the fight against corruption," said Adama Nana, Senior Technical Inspector representing the Director General of Customs.

View of participants

A committee has been established at the level of the Directorate General of Customs to ensure the implementation of the A-CPI program. It is responsible for taking stock of the situation in the fight against corruption, identifying the actions carried out, drawing up an action plan, proposing avenues for cooperation, drafting an information document and facilitating the conduct of a survey on the perception of the customs integrity.

The A-CPI programme concerns 17 countries in the world, including 12 in Africa and 2 at the WAEMU level, all identified by the World Customs Organization.