Swedish Customs

Their core work

Swedish Customs (Tullverket) is Sweden's national customs authority, responsible for controlling the cross-border flow of goods, detecting illicit substances, and enforcing trade compliance at Swedish borders. In the H2020 programme, they contributed their operational expertise as an end-user and domain authority — validating data-driven risk management systems and field-testing sensor-based detection of drugs and precursors at real border checkpoints. Their value in research consortia lies in providing ground-truth access to actual customs operations, real smuggling scenarios, and the regulatory and procedural knowledge that purely technical partners lack. They bridge the gap between laboratory solutions and the realities of high-volume, time-sensitive border control.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Swedish Customs entered H2020 research through a data and analytics lens — their first project (PROFILE, 2018) was about building smarter risk management through data fusion, big data infrastructure, and sharing intelligence across EU customs authorities. Their second engagement (BorderSens, 2019) shifted toward physical detection technology: electrochemical sensors for identifying illicit drugs and chemical precursors at the border itself. This suggests a broadening from back-office data intelligence toward frontline detection capabilities. The trajectory points toward integrated border security — combining real-time physical sensing with data-driven profiling — which mirrors the operational direction of modern customs enforcement.

Swedish Customs appears to be expanding its research engagement toward integrated border security solutions that combine sensor-based detection with data analytics — making them a relevant partner for any consortium working on smart border management, detection technology validation, or EU-wide customs interoperability.

How they like to work

Swedish Customs has participated in both H2020 projects as a consortium partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a public authority providing operational access and domain expertise rather than leading research agendas. Both projects involved relatively large consortia (27 unique partners across 12 countries for just two projects), indicating comfort working within complex multi-partner structures. They function as a practitioner anchor in research teams: they do not drive the technical development, but they provide the real-world context, test environments, and regulatory knowledge that give technology-focused partners something concrete to build toward.

Despite only two projects, Swedish Customs has built connections with 27 unique partners spanning 12 countries — a surprisingly broad footprint suggesting they joined large, well-networked Security pillar consortia. Their European reach covers both northern and southern EU member states, fitting their cross-border mandate.

What sets them apart

Swedish Customs brings something most security research partners cannot: operational authority at an actual national border, with legal power to conduct inspections, access to live smuggling data, and direct relationships with other EU customs administrations through established risk-sharing channels. For any consortium developing border security technology — whether sensors, data platforms, or risk algorithms — having a real customs authority as a partner is often a requirement for credibility with EU evaluators and for realistic validation. Swedish Customs offers exactly that legitimacy, combined with Sweden's reputation for well-organized public administration and high data quality standards.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PROFILE
  The largest investment (EUR 220,640) and most strategically significant project — addressing EU-wide customs risk management architecture through data fusion and inter-customs intelligence sharing, placing Swedish Customs at the center of a pan-European data governance challenge.
• BorderSens
  Demonstrates Swedish Customs' willingness to engage with cutting-edge detection hardware (electrochemical sensors), extending their profile beyond data systems into physical border security instrumentation.