The WCO's formal name is the Customs Cooperation Council. The Convention establishing the Customs Cooperation Council entered into force on 4 November 1952. Since 1994 the organization has adopted informal name "World Customs Organization", and the official name is used only when it is required by law.
WCO is the only international government organization dealing with customs procedures in the world trade. Its headquarters is located in Brussels. The main goal of the WCO is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of customs operations in facilitating the movement of goods, law enforcement, protection of society and collection of customs duties. WCO cooperates with many well-known international organizations.
Poland has been a member of the WCO since 1974. The present membership includes 181 countries.
The Polish Customs has been actively involved in the work of the WCO for many years. These are both meetings of working groups, committees and top level meetings with the Head of Customs Service (from 1 March 2017 - Head of National Revenue Administration). The topics in these meetings cover the whole spectrum of issues related to customs law, enforcement, border protection, international cooperation of WCO member administrations or training of customs officers. For example, representatives of the customs administration attend meetings of committees dealing with the harmonized system, customs valuation, rules of origin, enforcement, counterfeiting and piracy group.