The Agency

Customs, the national anti-fraud network to protect health and 88 billion in revenue between tariffs, excise, tobacco and games

First National Anti-Fraud Conference shows that in the first quarter of 2026, one in ten parcels of small value is irregular

by Rome Editorial Staff

22 April 2026

ADM AGENZIA DELLE ACCISE, DOGANE E MONOPOLI, TARGA IMAGOECONOMICA

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Excise, monopoly and customs taxes are worth almost 88 billion
Small value shipments
Health protection
New technologies at the service of the Agency
Alesse: "Advanced technologies indispensable"

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Speed of intervention, risk analysis, digitalisation and multidimensionality. These are the four keywords of the Customs Agency called upon to protect the 88 billion in revenue that between tariffs, excise duties and taxes on games and tobacco flows into the Treasury's coffers.

Excise, Monopoly and Customs taxes are worth almost 88 billion

"The numbers speak for themselves," said the Deputy Minister for the Economy, Maurizio Leo, opening the proceedings of the first National Anti-Fraud Conference organised by the Customs and Monopolies Agency in Rome. As the deputy minister recalled, the taxation of excise duties, monopolies, and customs is worth almost 88 billion, with an increase in 2025 of 1.73%, of which, approximating by default, 33 billion concern energy products and gas, another 27 billion come from customs tariffs, a good 15 billion from excise duties on tobacco, 11 billion from concession games, and 1.4 billion from alcoholic products.

The protection of these resources and of public health itself passes through the new National Anti-Fraud Network, stressed the Director of the Customs and Monopolies Agency, Roberto Alesse. "This is a structure that, through the integration of the Agency's analysis and control capacities, strengthens the connection between information, investigation and scientific technical support activities. Not only that. "The new, modern and innovative approach," adds the director, "enables a more timely and effective response to emerging and increasingly sophisticated threats.

Small Value Shipments

It is difficult to let one's guard down. The red light, for example, has also gone out on small value shipments, which also ended up under the spotlight of the last Budget Law. As indicated in a note issued by the same Agency in the first quarter of 2026, against approximately 200,000 small value shipments per day, the percentage of customs inspections grew by 20% compared to the same period in 2025, bringing to light a significant increase in discrepancies, which rose from 8.4% to 9.9%, revealing an important fact: one in ten of those inspected is not regular.

However, Deputy Minister Leo emphasised the multidimensionality of the agency and of the anti-fraud network itself, which ends up touching three sectors. "As far as the customs sector is concerned, the problems arising from counterfeiting, under-certification and tariffs evasion are there for all to see," Leo recalled. "But illicit trafficking against security is also an important segment of the law enforcement activity that Customs is focused on. We are thinking of narcotics, weapons, tariffs and sanctions violations, illicit shipping, and illicit waste, which generate the rules with forgery or triangulation,' the deputy minister added.

Health Protection

Then there is the protection of health, to which, Leo recalls, 'we pay great attention, as we think of food safety, which we say, is one of the situations on which the government is paying particular attention. And it is in this direction that the protection of 'Made in Italy' must be seen, which is necessary to guarantee a market in which those who abide by the rules must be favoured and at the same time to counter and penalise illegal behaviour. The other important theme is that of public gaming. For Leo, 'this means preventing fiscal damage, social recycling and removing space for organised crime'.

New technologies at the service of the Agency

The Agency's anti-fraud activities today make use of technologies that are making control procedures increasingly effective and efficient. At the moment, work is being done on the design of an intelligent system that can automatically analyse large amounts of data and relate them to each other, and detect inconsistencies and risk signals in real time. The aim is an increasingly precise anti-fraud control, which reduces errors, analysis time and manual activities and optimises preventive actions.

And 'The National Anti-Fraud Conference represents a valuable and necessary moment of confrontation. The growing geopolitical instability of the current international context and the progressive fragmentation of the global economic order call us to face new and complex challenges that see fraudulent phenomena evolving with great speed. The Agency, with the Anti-Fraud Directorate that I have the honour to lead, is ready to tackle them also with innovative tools, methodologies and operational methods, ensuring the protection of the entire country system,' stressed Director of the Anti-Fraud Directorate, Sergio Gallo.

Alesse: 'Advanced technologies essential'

And Director Alesse raises the challenge against fraud for 2026-2027. "The volume of international trafficking and the increasing complexity of fraudulent phenomena also make it essential to use advanced technologies, including the conscious and controlled use of artificial intelligence.

The use of large amounts of data by means of increasingly sophisticated predictive algorithms will make it possible to develop more and more precise risk analyses, capable of detecting anomalies in trade flow patterns, anticipating illicit behaviour and distinguishing low-risk controls from high-impact ones with greater precision.

The two-year period 2026-2027 will be a crucial phase for the further evolution of our anti-fraud capacity, and a number of priority strategic directions have been identified. Verifications will be made faster and more selective by investing in advanced control tools, such as, for example, new generation scanners and integrated digital platforms'.