News

Technical assistance missions on joint risk analysis for border agencies continue in 2018. 

On 12-15 December in Ashgabat a workshop on standards of assistance to vulnerable migrants was conducted. The event served as a forum for governmental stakeholders and European experts to exchange experience and explore the international standards for in providing basic services to vulnerable migrants, including readmission. Over the course of the three-day workshop, government counterparts and BOMCA experts from International Center on Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and State Border Guards of Latvia shared findings and discussed ways to respond to the needs of victims of trafficking  (VoTs) and migrants in accordance with international standards and best practices.

Effective risk management systems in customs are a powerful tool that allow authorities to focus on the most risky areas of border control, to differentiate those involved in trade and, consequently, to keep a proper balance between the facilitation of legitimate trade and prevention of illegal activities in the international trade chain. Thus it is important to ensure that such a system is in place and is implemented properly by customs/border guard officers. To this end, on December 12-14 BOMCA expert team met with national partners from Kyrgyz Customs  to jointly assess the existing national practices and procedures for risk analysis  and criminal investigation in customs clearance and control .This BOMCA activity aimed to provide technical assistance in the development and improvement of the risk management systems in the Central Asian countries.

On December 12-14, 2017 BOMCA expert team met with key national partners from the State Committee of  Uzbekistan to jointly assess the existing practices and procedures of import risk analysis and control. This BOMCA activity aims to sustain institutional development of the State Veterinary Committee in the areas covered by international Trade Facilitation Conventions. In particular, it intends to extend awareness on the veterinary border check, and effective appliance of risk analysis.

On December 11-13 2017, BOMCA conducted a national workshop on identification and profiling techniques for border guards and law enforcement officers of Kazakhstan.

On 29 November, the 3rd Regional Steering Group (RSG) meeting was held in Astana. Representatives from the border and customs services, foreign ministries, and migration management agencies of each Central Asian (CA) country (as project beneficiaries) together with BOMCA Consortium partners and representatives from the Delegations of the European Union in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan jointly assessed the Programme’s achievements and challenges to date, discussed the work plan for next year and spoke about country priorities with regard to possible BOMCA continuation beyond 2018.

While the main focus of the BOMCA programme is ‘soft’ components, strengthening professional skills and expertise in the relevant areas, technical support in the form of equipment is also provided to each CA country. The handover of equipment in the region started in Uzbekistan. The State Security Committee received a Regula video spectral comparator.

Between 14-16 November BOMCA invited training experts to conduct training of trainers on an advanced level of document security for relevant national experts from border agency training institutions and border control officers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.