WCO holds second Hot Zone Prioritization Forum in Bulgaria

The World Customs Organization (WCO) held the second Hot Zone Prioritization Forum (HZPF) from 4-8 November 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The HZPF was organized as part of Project OCTAGON with the support of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) of the George Mason University (GMU).

Project OCTAGON is a part of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML-CTF) Programme of the WCO and is funded by the U.S. Department of State. The HZPF is an annual forum focusing on the identification of sub-regional hot zones at high risk of transnational criminal organizations (TCO), money laundering, terrorism financing and illicit financial flows. The forum provides a platform for the discussion, analysis and evaluation of the highest priority sub-regional hot zones across all regions of the world involving inputs from experts from customs administrations, FIUs and other relevant organizations to find a cohesive and collaborative approach to address the threats involved. The prioritization list is intended to serve as a guide for the WCO and the Egmont Group to better place their collective capacity building and operational efforts to combat international organized crime and terrorist groups.

Ms. Cvetelina Stoyanova, Director, FIU Bulgaria welcomed the participants and stated that the HZPF combines the two most important drivers to success in the fight against transnational crime and terrorism - one, it brings together different stakeholders from different regions with all their expertise, and two, it leads to the identification of the areas which need more attention. In his opening remarks, Mr. Plamen Pavlov, Deputy Director General of the National Customs Agency of Bulgaria stated that the fight against the illegal movements of money is becoming an ever-greater priority at the European and international level and that many predicate crimes that use cash are related to crimes detected or investigated by customs authorities. The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, Director (Compliance & Facilitation), WCO who remarked that AML and CTF have been two important pillars of Customs Enforcement and that the WCO, the global voice of 186 Member Customs Administrations, has been proactive in identifying the far-reaching impact of these issues in the Customs realm. Mr. James McColm, Acting Deputy Director, WCO; Mr. Mohammed Shahid Ahmed, Egmont Group Vice-Chair & Chief of Staff at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and Dr. Louise Shelly, Director, TraCCC, GMU also provided valuable insights to set the tone for the forum. Deputy Director General Pavlov held a working meeting with Director Das and Deputy Director McColm on the sidelines of the forum.

The inaugural edition of the forum was held in 2022. The 2024 forum was attended by more than 70 participants from 24 countries. The participants included officials from Customs administrations, the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units and the George Mason University. The forum concluded on Friday, 8th November 2024 following extensive discussions between the members to identify the global hot zones at high risk of money laundering, terrorism financing and illicit financial flows. The WCO is committed to continuing its support to the global fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.