Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Gabala hosted the 16th meeting of the Committee of the Heads of the Law Enforcement Departments of the CIS Council of Customs Services Heads on September 20.

The State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan (SCC) reported that representatives of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan attended the event. Latvian and Estonian customs service representatives participated as observers.

Head of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev, addressing the event, stressed that one of the key activities of the customs service is the fight against smuggling.

He noted the importance of developing international cooperation in this sphere.

Highly appreciating the work of the law enforcement departments of the customs services of the CIS member states, Aliyev noted that mutually fruitful cooperation has created the conditions for achieving success in combating smuggling and ensuring border security.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia Anatoly Seryshev expressed his confidence that the event will play an important role in further strengthening the ties between the customs services of the participating countries.

Later, the event saw presentation on the topic ‘Organization of the work of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan in the sphere of combating smuggling and customs offenses’.

The participants of the meeting were provided with information on the decisions of the previous meeting of the Committee of Heads of Law Enforcement Departments and the implementation of the work plan for 2017.

The meeting participants also considered a draft work plan of the Committee of Heads of Law Enforcement Departments for 2018 and studied issues related to the adoption of a plan of work to combat economic crimes and customs offenses for 2018-2019.

The issues regarding the adoption of the work plan for 2018 on the regional coordination hub of the CIS states-RILO-Moscow within the framework of the World Customs Organization's law enforcement activities were also considered.

In June Baku hosted the 65th meeting of the Council of Heads of Customs Services of CIS member states. Heads and representatives of the customs services of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan attended the meeting.

The 66th meeting of the Council of Heads of Customs Services of the CIS member countries will be held in Kyrgyzstan.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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