Customs protecting society through vigilance and commitment

The WCO motto for 2026

The World Customs Organization's (WCO) motto, "Customs protecting society through vigilance and commitment," summarizes, in the current context, the evolution of customs from its role as mere revenue collectors to pillars of national security and social welfare. 

Importance of the motto

It reaffirms that the mission of customs goes beyond commercial control, becoming the first line of defense against threats such as drug trafficking, weapons and counterfeit goods, which directly affect citizens and human, animal, plant and environmental health.

It emphasizes the use of modern tools, such as risk management and non-intrusive inspection technology, to monitor the flow of goods without hindering legitimate trade and highlights the responsibility of customs officials to act with transparency y probityensuring that their actions protect the national economy and the environment. 

Global Significance

This approach encourages the 186 member administrations of the WCO to share intelligence and best practices for combating cross-border crime. International supply chain security has become a cornerstone of 21st-century global trade. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York, March 2004, in Madrid, and July 2005 in London, concerns about terrorism, transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, arms and cultural property trafficking, as well as illicit trade, counterfeit goods, and hazardous waste, have led to a constant review and redefinition of the role of customs.

By protecting society from illegal practices and unfair competition, customs creates a safe environment that attracts investment and fosters the competitiveness of local industry by not trying to control in order to collect revenue, but to ensure regulatory compliance by managing complex and interwoven risks (terrorism, environmental, human, and energy security, cybersecurity, tax and customs fraud, and environmental crimes) without hindering the customs clearance of legitimate trade.

The motto encourages customs to evolve in the face of new challenges, such as e-commerce and health crises, while always maintaining a focus on the security of the global supply chain. 

In recent years, the WCO has reinforced this commitment through specific slogans for International Customs Day, such as the one for 2025: "Customs fulfills its commitment to efficiency, security and prosperity." 

From contemporary customs law, characterized by its regulatory complexity derived from globalized trade, economic security and digitalization, emerges the commitment to regulatory compliance as a cross-cutting axis of the public customs function. This commitment, summarized in the World Customs Organization's (WCO) motto for 2026 «Customs protecting society through vigilance and commitment. It highlights the essential role of customs as shields against illicit threats (drugs, weapons, counterfeiting, health, human, plant, animal and environmental) and facilitators of legitimate tradePromoting secure and efficient borders to ensure global security, health and economic prosperity through international cooperation and the use of technologies.

Customs go beyond tax collection, becoming guarantors of social welfare by controlling compliance with regulations in international trade.

Surveillance involves monitoring the flow of goods and people, while engagement reflects the ethical responsibility of customs officials against organized crime.

It facilitates foreign trade, increasing competitiveness and attracting investment, while combating illegal activities that affect national security.

The motto emphasizes the need for a modern, collaborative and technological approach (such as environmental protection and digital security), which guides the focus of the WCO members' annual efforts in adopting concrete measures for security and sustainable growth. 

The slogan also reaffirms its connection to and implementation of the WCO's strategic plans. The Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and the more recent Strategic Plan 2025-2028 place the security of the logistics chain as one of the central objectives, along with trade facilitation, tax collection, and the protection of society against new global threats (health, phytosanitary, environmental, public safety, etc.).

In supply chains, this commitment fosters public-private partnerships and technological interoperability (AI, big data), strengthening traceability from factory to final destination and protecting against disruptions such as triangulation or hazardous waste. Its systemic approach to logistics integrity enhances resilience to transnational crime and cyber risks, promoting proactive customs measures that safeguard public health, the environment, and the legitimate economy without paralyzing operations. Doctrinally, it transcends border control to achieve collaborative governance that sustains global trust in trade.

Furthermore, it increases the responsibilities of professional customs agents as qualified auxiliaries, vested with legal responsibilities that transcend mere private representation to materialize public-private co-responsibility. Doctrinally, their intervention in pre- and post-clearance verification not only facilitates legitimate trade but also protects collective legal interests such as public health, safety, and financial integrity, aligning with principles of risk management, selective control, and collaborative governance.

Similarly, contemporary customs law is characterized by increasing regulatory complexity, stemming from both the intensification of international trade and the proliferation of regulatory standards related to security, trade facilitation, traceability, and the prevention of customs offenses. In this context, the State's customs function cannot be conceived as an exclusive and closed activity, but rather as an expanded public function involving private entities vested with specific legal responsibilities.

Therefore, the motto of the World Customs Organization (WCO) proposed for this year 2026 “Customs protecting society through vigilance and commitment”, It summarizes the role of customs as a strategic authority for comprehensive protection, going beyond revenue collection or formal trade control. In the context of 2025–2026, marked by geopolitical tensions, accelerated digitalization, massive e-commerce, and transnational economic crime, the message acquires particular legal and operational force.

“Protecting society”: collective legal good

Protection is no longer limited to public funds. Customs now safeguards legal rights:

• Public health (counterfeit medicines, unsafe food).
• Security (weapons, explosives, precursors).
• Legitimate economy and fair competition (undervaluation, dumping, origin fraud).
• Environment and cultural heritage (hazardous waste, CITES species, cultural assets).
• Financial integrity (TBML, evasion, money laundering).

Doctrinally, customs acts as an administrative authority for economic security, with duties of prevention, detection and disruption of cross-border crime.

“Surveillance”: intelligence, risk and selective control

Modern surveillance is not indiscriminate inspection. It is intelligence-based risk management.

• Data analytics, dynamic profiling, and non-intrusive control.
• Systems interoperability and document traceability.
• Focus on operations, routes, actors, and critical goods.
• Anticipation (pre-arrival/pre-shipment) and post-dispatch controls.

This approach aligns with selective control and administrative proportionality: more efficiency, less friction.

“Commitment”: public-private co-responsibility

Commitment implies collaborative governance:

•  Auxiliary Alliances of the customs public function and trusted operators (AEO).
• Inter-institutional coordination (customs, police, prosecutors, health, environment).
• International cooperation and mutual assistance.
• Culture of compliance and operational ethics in the logistics chain.

Trade facilitation and security converge here: compliance is facilitating; trust requires verification.

Strategic Reading 2025–2026

The motto responds to specific challenges:

• E-commerce and de minimis: volume, fragmentation and serial fraud.
• Tariff reconfiguration and geopolitics: triangulations, fictitious origin.
• Transnational organized crime: financial and documentary sophistication.
• Digitization: AI, big data, cyber-risks.

The WCO proposes an anticipatory, connected and ethical customs system, capable of protecting without paralyzing.

The WCO motto is the conceptual framework that allows security and facilitation to be reconciled as complementary, not opposing, functions.

Within this framework, professional customs agents acquire central doctrinal and practical relevance, as they are configured as qualified auxiliaries of the public customs function and as strategic actors in the verification and control of regulatory and normative compliance.

Legal nature of professional customs agents

Professional customs agents, due to their authorization to conduct inspections in the pre and post customs clearance phases, in the materialization of regulatory compliance, are situated in a unique legal position: halfway between private activity and the indirect exercise of public functions.

From a doctrinal perspective, it can be argued that these agents participate in the customs public function as auxiliaries, insofar as they collaborate directly and necessarily with the customs administration in the correct application of current legislation. Their actions are subject to requirements of technical competence, professional ethics, and administrative, civil, and even criminal liability, which reinforces their status as qualified actors within the customs system.

Customs agents as auxiliaries of the public customs function

The concept of an auxiliary to the customs public service is based on the functional delegation that the State makes regarding certain material and technical acts related to foreign trade operations. Within this framework, professional customs agents:

• They apply customs, tax and regulatory rules on behalf of the operators.
• They interact directly with the customs authority in import, export and transit procedures.
• They contribute to the correct determination of taxes, customs regimes and tariff treatments.

This collaboration does not imply a transfer of sovereign powers, but it does involve participation in the practical implementation of the State's customs policy, which justifies their classification as auxiliaries of the public function.

Pillar of verification and control of regulatory and normative compliance

In modern customs systems, regulatory compliance (compliance and confidentialityCustoms has become a structural axis. Professional customs agents play a key role as the first level of regulatory compliance verification, acting as technical and legal filters before direct intervention by the customs authority.

Its function as a pillar of regulatory control is manifested, among other aspects, in:

• Documentary and classification verification of goods.
• Control of compliance with rules of origin, customs value and tariff classification.
• Compliance with non-tariff regulations, such as sanitary, phytosanitary, safety, environmental or technical measures.
• The prevention of legal and tax contingencies arising from errors or omissions in customs declarations.

In this way, Customs agents not only facilitate legitimate trade, but also actively contribute to the protection of the State's fiscal, economic and security interests.

Professional and ethical responsibility in the performance of the auxiliary function

The status of customs agents as auxiliaries to the public customs service implies a high standard of professional responsibility. Legal scholars agree that customs agents must act in accordance with the principles of legality, diligence, good faith, and institutional loyalty, balancing the interests of their clients with strict adherence to the legal framework.

The agent's responsibility is not limited to formal compliance with procedures, but extends to an active duty of providing correct advice, preventing risks, and rejecting practices contrary to current regulations.

To conclude 

The evolving commitment to customs and foreign trade regulatory compliance establishes professional agents as strategic pillars of the public service, reconciling trade facilitation with protection in a context of geopolitical tensions and transnational e-commerce. By embracing the WCO 2026 motto, these actors not only verify compliance with tariff, sanitary, and environmental regulations, but also strengthen administrative proportionality through ethical diligence and the prevention of illicit activities. Thus, their auxiliary role legitimizes a proactive and ethical customs system, essential for disrupting organized crime and promoting an integrated and secure global economy. 

The motto of the World Customs Organization (WCO) “Customs protecting society through vigilance and commitment” More than just a suggestion, it is an irreversible commitment to the sustainability and security of legitimate international trade.