La gestion du risque en douane : premières leçons tirées de l'expérience de quelques pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Risk Management in Customs: Initial Lessons from Experiences in Some African Countries

For several years, the most modern customs administrations rely on risk analysis structural approaches for reducing intrusive inspections, satisfying private operators and securing their operations. In developing countries, customs administrations have been slow to take this course due to high reluctance from both customs officers refusing to change and authorities fearing revenue losses. This paper presents five experiences in West African countries where customs administration are developing in their modernization strategy, risk analysis and management systems using statistical scoring methods. Initial lessons from these experiences are promising and logically other countries should follow. Presently used only by customs administrations, these methods could also be developed by tax administrations.