The World Customs Organization (WCO) held a National Workshop on Transit for Azerbaijan Customs at the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building for Europe in Baku, Azerbaijan from 19 to 21 May 2015. The Workshop was held under the sponsorship of the German Customs Cooperation Fund. Approximately 25 experts from the Azerbaijan Customs Administration together with experts from German Customs and the WCO participated in the Workshop.
Mr. Shahin Bagirov, Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, welcomed participants and gave an opening address during which he stated that effective transit operations were important to ensure regional integration and economic development. He pointed out that Azerbaijan Customs had established a functioning transit system and related procedures and that it was a Contracting Party to the TIR Convention. He hoped that the detailed and technical discussions at the Workshop would contribute to potential improvements in Azerbaijan’s transit operations.
During the Workshop, participants discussed various transit-related issues such as effective information sharing, the guarantee system and Customs seals, based on the WCO Transit Handbook published in 2014. They also discussed the European Union’s New Computerized Transit System (NCTS), exchanging insights into the main differences between transit procedures in Azerbaijan and the European Union and the reasons behind them.
The Workshop proved very informative for all the participants and the resulting information will be reflected in the next edition of the Transit Handbook and shared with other WCO Members.
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