WCO sees Azerbaijan as regional leader in customs

The World Customs Committee has named Azerbaijan a regional leader in terms of the customs services.

Secretary General of WCO Kunio Mikuriya, who paid an official visit to Baku in late January, said that the country provides the most advanced customs services in the region.

Mikuriya visited Azerbaijan to join the conference on economic security ¬held at the Azerbaijan Economic University on the occasion of International Customs Day and the 25th anniversary of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

Speaking at the conference "Economic security: Aspects for trade facilitation and protection", he traced the history of Azerbaijan’s customs system and expressed appreciation for its support to the WCO.

Mikuriya stressed that Azerbaijan has made a big contribution to ensure economic security and facilitate trade.

“As you know, January 26 marked International Customs Day and it makes me glad that it is related to Azerbaijan’s customs committee, as the institution has made a huge contribution to the provision of security and facilitation of trade operations,” he said.

He hailed capacity building activities of the country, particularly hosting of the regional office for capacity building, regional training centre and regional dog training centre which contributed greatly to the enhancement of the international cooperation.

Cynological Centre, situated on Mashtaga – Zabrat highway, occupies an area of 3 hectares and has a capacity of simultaneous housing of 100 service dogs, their medical treatment and trainings. The centre specializes in the following directions: drugs investigation; search of explosives, search of weapon and ammunition, guarding of facilities of all types, etc.

Mikuriya further hailed Azerbaijan's focus on the importance of knowledge and technology, and said that such a strategy provided the perfect policy platform for the WCO 2017 topic "Data Analysis for Effective Border Management".

During his Baku visit, Mikuriya was also received by President Ilham Aliyev and the sides discussed cooperation between Azerbaijan and WCO.

The WCO, established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations.

The organization is working with its Members to ensure growth by securing and promoting economic competitiveness.