The Green Customs Initiative in the Context of Adaptive Policy: A Bibliometric Mapping of Past and Present Research

Amidst rising global pressure regarding sustainability and cross-border trade, customs agencies are no longer viewed merely as gatekeepers but as strategic actors in global environmental governance through the Green Customs Initiative (GCI). This research aims to uncover the evolutionary patterns of GCI research within the context of adaptive policy, map its intellectual structure, and identify future thematic directions. The methodology employs a bibliometric analysis of documents sourced from the Web of Science database, utilizing VOSviewer software to perform co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, and co-word analysis.The results demonstrate that the dominance of scientific actors in this field is determined more by the strength of collaboration networks than by the mere volume of publications. The findings identify that the primary intellectual foundations of GCI research rest upon the critical relationship between environmental regulation, international trade, market responses, and eco-innovation. Furthermore, country-level analysis highlights the central roles of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom in shaping the knowledge structure of this domain. Overall, these findings underscore that the GCI has evolved into a multidisciplinary field that requires an adaptive policy framework to respond to the dynamics of ecological risks and global trade demands through institutional flexibility and cross-actor collaboration. By integrating environmental protection into border management and risk assessment, this study provides a strategic reference for customs authorities to move toward a more responsive and knowledge-based green customs administration.