A National Workshop on the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) was held in, Baku, Azerbaijan, with the support of the German Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF-Germany). The workshop was attended by 20 senior Customs officers from the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan who are involved in different Customs areas, especially relating to clearance and release of goods.
The objective of the event was to enhance the understanding of the national experts with regards to emerging issues in Customs operations. During the Workshop, amongst others, the WCO experts presented the General Annex of the RKC and World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), explained how these two international instruments complement each other and how WCO tools can assist Members with the implementation of the TFA, particularly in the area of clearance and release of goods.
The Workshop also provided an opportunity for the participants to share the reforms and modernization programmes that the State Customs Committee has been implementing with a view to ensuring Customs excellence. The introduction of the new electronic system that allows Customs and a number of other Government agencies to interact with each other was one of the notable projects presented by the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In addition, participants discussed the issue of “Customs Brokers”, the relevant provisions in the RKC and some national practices. The WCO is committed to further assist Azerbaijan Customs to successfully implement trade facilitation utilizing the WCO Mercator Programme.