In April 2017, a group of European experts visited Astana, Dushanbe, and Tashkent to hold a series of workshops for border agencies on law enforcement ethics and the fight against corruption.
Following the working meetings on trade facilitation measures that took place in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, this BOMCA activity continued in Turkmenistan, gathering international and local experts to discuss current trade and customs procedures being applied and their compliance with the WTO trade facilitation agreement.
Between April 5-10 2017, a workshop for border guard and customs training institutions of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was held, gathering key partners from higher educational institutions forming border delegates and customs officers as well as training centres of Border and Customs services. The events were facilitated by experts from the College of State Border Guard of Latvia, Riga Technical University, and the Lithuanian Customs training centre.
Risk assessment and management are of key importance in Customs work and crucial to proactive decision-making relevant to successfully performing Customs controls. Risk management provides for timely and appropriate measures, actions, and operations to prevent mitigate or avoid risk and its consequences.
On 25 November 2015 the European Commission adopted the proposal to grant inclusion in the extended Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) to Kyrgyzstan. After consideration by the Council and the European Parliament, the EU regulation granting it was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 26 January 2016, and came into effect the following day. The decision of the European Union to grant GSP+ status to the Kyrgyz Republic opened up new potential in economic relations and offered opportunities for Kyrgyzstan to increase and diversify its exports and strengthen its economy. The GSP+ means full removal of tariffs on more than 6,000 product categories, Kyrgyz exporters are now able supply to the European Union at a zero tariff rate agricultural products such as fruits, processed fruits (canned fruits, juice), dried fruits (walnuts, almonds, pistachios), food products, tobacco, textiles, felt products, clothing (including leather), and carpets.
Between 14-16 March BOMCA Technical Mission experts visited Astana to evaluate the compatibility of the existing customs officer training system with World Customs Organization (WCO) professional standards and recommendations of the European Commission Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD).
From 14-16 March BOMCA-invited training experts conducted a national workshop on human resources management and financial planning and control for relevant national experts from the customs, border and phytosanitary agencies of Turkmenistan. The EU expert team consisting of senior management representatives from the State Revenue Service and the State Border Service of Latvia brought their knowledge and expertise to share with Turkmen partners.
A national workshop on terrorist identification and profiling was held in Bishkek between 14-16 March, gathering professionals from the State Security Service, the Ministry of Interior and the Border Service dealing with identification and profiling issues.
