OSCE Centre in Astana promotes customs risk management

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ASTANA. October 26. KAZINFORM. A three-day workshop on risk management for the customs administrations of CIS countries began in Astana on Monday.

The event was organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana in co-operation with the World Customs Organization (WCO), the European Union's Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) and Kazakhstan's Customs Control Committee.

The workshop will raise awareness of Customs Risk Management (CRM) principles and mechanisms, which aim to optimize customs control operations, reduce the bureaucratic burden and facilitate international trade exchanges. Workshop participants will enhance regional co-operation by defining common approaches to CRM, and facilitating the introduction of a common professional language and methodologies by the different customs administrations, as prescribed by key WCO documents and decisions, the press service of the OSCE Centre in Astana reports.

"Although progress has been achieved, there is a need to further implement consolidated measures to improve customs procedures and bring them in compliance with international standards," said Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, n his message to the participants. "The continued reliance on traditional procedures of documentation and total customs control and a lack of interaction and co-operation between customs services in the region remain the main impediments for harmonization of customs procedures."

"Kazakhstan is a transit country for goods, and its priority is to increase these flows. This can not be accomplished without modern customs procedures that make use of risk management tools. I hope that today's workshop will contribute to increased co-operation and more effective risk management for the CIS countries' customs administrations," said Nurzhan Ashikhanov, the Deputy-Chairman of the Kazakh Customs Control Committee.

Some 50 professionals from the customs administrations of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as international experts are taking part in the workshop.

The workshop is designed for managers overseeing port operations and border control posts, as well as for other senior managers responsible for risk management programmes and risk assessment. The new OSCE-UNECE publication on Best Practices at Border Crossings: a Trade and Transport Facilitation Perspective will be presented to the participants.

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