Editorial

Each year on International Customs Day (26 January) the World Customs Organization (WCO) adopts its annual theme for implementation by member administrations. This year’s theme, Nurturing the next generation by promoting a culture of knowledge-sharing and professional pride in Customs, encourages administrations to support their new recruits by sharing knowledge and instilling a sense of pride in their chosen profession.

This theme is further developed in the latest edition of the WCO News,^[1] which includes a special dossier on the management of knowledge. In his introduction to the dossier, the WCO Secretary General, Dr Kunio Mikuriya, affirms the importance of providing members of the customs profession with a broad range of learning opportunities that are not limited to training programs, but include mentoring, work experience, forums and other initiatives.

The dossier includes an article I prepared on behalf of the International Network of Customs Universities (INCU), which explores evolving learning models in universities. It discusses the ways in which educational offerings are being reimagined and packaged to satisfy the flexible needs and expectations of administrations and industry to which the Secretary General refers. Learning models such as lectures delivered in classrooms and lecture theatres through scheduled classes are becoming outdated, and learning is beginning to transcend its traditional boundaries – primarily through the use of technology.

A key message is the need to maintain the currency, relevance and utility of WCO-accredited programs, which includes the need to continually align such programs with the PICARD^[2] standards and to ensure that course developers have a sound knowledge of the contemporary customs environment, with a practical understanding of how the theory translates to operational reality.

In closing, I would like to congratulate the Solomon Islands, which on 26 January 2023 became the 185th member of the WCO. The Solomon Islands Customs and Excise Division (SICED) has for many years been providing its officers with a range of learning opportunities, including access to the comprehensive development programs offered by the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO), and their WCO membership will now provide access to an even broader range of opportunities.