In support of Bulgarian Customs Agency’s anti-corruption and staff discipline initiatives, Crown Agents organised a visit of senior managers of the agency to H.M. Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom. The Deputy Director General of the Bulgarian Customs Agency (BCA), Mr. Alexander Rakov, experts from the BCA Inspectorate and Crown Agents’ advisors met with senior personnel responsible for overseeing and working in the internal governance areas of the British Customs service.

The Bulgarian delegates compared the existing BCA staff discipline procedures with those of the EU member state and gained valuable insight into how another Customs organization deals with corruption and staff discipline.

The key issues examined were:

• Type of corruption identified and the reasons and conditions which facilitated the corrupt acts;

• Steps taken to identify and minimise corruption;

• Supporting guidance issued to managers; and

• Training provided to staff responsible for investigating cases of possible corruption.