Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee and World Customs Organization have signed a document on the completion of work on the application of the WCO's Cargo Tracking System in Azerbaijan's Customs Service.

The document was signed by the SCC Chairman Safar Mehdiyev and Head of the WCO administration and staff Hans Peters during an online meeting on April 20.

During the meeting, the country’s State Customs Committee Chairman, Colonel-General of the customs service Safar Mehdiyev stated that the Cargo Targeting System will lead to an increase in Azerbaijan’s transit potential.

Mehdiyev underlined that Azerbaijani Customs Service has implemented a number of reforms to facilitate trade and security and has made great progress as a result of transparent policies and anti-corruption measures.

He emphasized that the use of the WCO Risk Management System is of great importance for Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.

“The program was developed to support risk assessment in customs and allowing the collection, storage and exchange of cargo information, identification of high-risk cargo and expedite the passage of low-risk cargo through customs checkpoints, thereby facilitating trade and ensuring security,” the chairman stated.

Mehdiyev noted that this system, which creates conditions for more efficient use of available resources and acceleration of border crossing processes, will increase the attractiveness of North-South and East-West transport corridors passing through Azerbaijan.

The chairman also spoke about the fruitful cooperation between the WCO and SCC and expressed gratitude for the support in the application of this system.

In turn, the World Customs Organization’s Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya stated that the signed document on the CTS application also has implications for the structure he represents.

He noted that in the difficult period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Azerbaijani customs successfully manages the European region of the WCO, carries out important work to establish effective ties.

“We welcome the steps taken by the Azerbaijani customs service in the application of information technologies,” Mikuriya stated.

Additionally, touching upon the role of CTS in facilitating international trade, the WCO secretary-general expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will demonstrate best practices to the world with a successful implementation of this system.

The parties discussed the importance of the CTS and its role in making international trade easy and quick to implement.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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