Officers from American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and host nation Palau took part. The workshop was facilitated by the OCO Secretariat in partnership with New Zealand Customs.
“Strong Customs investigations are fundamental to protecting economies and communities,” said Mrs. Laisiana Tugaga, Head of the OCO Secretariat. “By equipping officers from smaller member administrations with internationally aligned investigative skills and practices, we are helping to strengthen professional standards across the region and enhance our collective ability to combat Customs offences, protect government revenue and secure our borders.”
Subject matter experts from New Zealand Customs and the Australian Border Force led the practical delivery, using realistic simulations to build understanding of Customs laws and skills in offence analysis, chain of custody, suspect interviewing and case file compilation.
As the border environment evolves, customs administrations face increasingly sophisticated transnational crime, illicit trade and revenue fraud. The workshop reflected the OCO’s commitment to strengthening investigative capability across the Pacific so all member administrations, regardless of size, could respond effectively.
New Zealand Customs Senior Policy Analyst Jeremy Laga’aia, who took part in the workshop, said New Zealand Customs’ Pacific approach was about meeting participants where they were comfortable and working with the capabilities they had. “It is about sharing our experience and helping participants apply the parts that work in their own environment,” he said.
Jeremy said the aim was for participants to leave confident in their technical skills. “Our goal is for our North Pacific partners to take these skills home, apply them and share them with their colleagues. We want to help our Pacific partners strengthen their borders and protect their communities from the threat of transnational, serious and organised crime,” he said.
The workshop also gave New Zealand Customs insight into how North Pacific administrations operate and what they need from partners.
