Customs Agency: artificial intelligence to be deployed to combat cash smuggling
Technology helps in the fight against cash trafficking offences
Key points
- AI for engaging with taxpayers
Artificial intelligence is also lending a hand with currency controls. The new plan from the Customs and Monopolies Agency (Adm) expands the ‘role’ of algorithms in the fight against fraud, strengthening efforts to monitor and combat illegal activities linked to the illicit movement of cash. It will no longer, therefore, be limited to shipments arriving from abroad, as is already the case.
This development is set out in black and white in the new three-year agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), which sets out the Agency’s objectives for 2026 to 2028, and will be implemented through pilot projects. In this way, moreover, it will bring to fruition what Director Roberto Alesse has reiterated in recent months, namely that AI tools are essential for making the system more efficient, thanks above all to advanced data analysis techniques for identifying potential threats and preventing fraud.
The recruitment process for subject matter experts has now been completed
The document reveals, amongst other things, that the Agency has already begun laying the groundwork for its launch. Or, rather, building its workforce. This is because, at the end of 2025, the recruitment drive aimed specifically at hiring experts in the field was completed. In particular, engineers, mathematicians and physicists were recruited. Not to mention that the digital transition will continue to be central to the training programme for employees.
AI for engaging with taxpayers
And so, artificial intelligence will play an increasingly significant role within Customs. It will also do so by facilitating engagement with taxpayers. The agreement aims to identify the needs of operators and promote tools to simplify compliance procedures. In practice: systems capable of analysing recurring requests, anticipating the most frequent interpretative doubts and guiding the Customs Authority’s responses in a more targeted manner.
More space within the Agency
Furthermore, attention should be paid to the latest developments within the Agency’s internal regulatory framework. Since 1 February, the Central Directorate for Organisation and Digital Transformation has established a unit with specific responsibility for technical and legal coordination of all developments relating to artificial intelligence. The Agency will also participate in technical coordination meetings with the Ministry of the Economy to define common strategies on tax information systems, with the adoption of ‘AI algorithms’ among the shared objectives.
