International customs cooperation

The module presents the actors: customs and police administrations, OIMAP's protection department, the INTERPOL secretariat, the World Customs Organization, UNESCO, museums and experts. Each has a precise role, designated contacts and exchange procedures.

Officers receive a directory of focal points, regularly updated.

Official channels guarantee the security of exchanges: the WCO's secure platform, INTERPOL's messaging, OIMAP's emergency line. The module teaches how to write a clear message: facts, objects, photographs, route, precise request.

Officers practise sharing without compromising an investigation: not circulating too early, protecting sources, respecting confidentiality rules.

Joint operations mobilise several States over a defined period. They are prepared with the WCO and INTERPOL, with a communication plan and a division of tasks. Twenty-three operations took place in 2024; they led to the seizure of more than 4,000 objects.

Participants study the lessons learned from several operations and learn to organise one on their own scale.

After a seizure, the object sometimes has to return to its country of origin. The module explains the procedure: identifying the State of origin, contacting the authorities, restitution steps, OIMAP's role. It covers questions of costs, transport and ceremony.

It also presents the role of the arbitral tribunal when restitution is contested.

Cooperation rests on trust. The module stresses respect for each service's rules, discretion on sensitive information and reciprocity. A cooperation charter is signed by participants.

A network of alumni helps maintain links after the training.

The Academy's reception service answers practical questions Monday to Friday, in French, English and Spanish, and can direct each visitor to the programme, scholarship or free resource that fits their situation. A guidance counsellor also offers a thirty-minute individual meeting, by appointment, to build a realistic training pathway.

Trainees' feedback is valuable: each session gives rise to a questionnaire, and the most useful suggestions are examined each quarter by the teaching committee. Do not hesitate to write to report a difficulty, propose a subject or tell us what the training has changed in your practice.