Promoting Regional Practical Cooperation among Port Control Units of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan under Global Container Control Programme

From 9 to 12 December 2019 UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (UNODC ROCA) jointly with the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan organized an Exchange visit for the members of CCP Port Control Units (PCU) of "Morport" and "Altynkol" Customs posts, Kazakhstan, to "Chukursay Techkontora" Customs post, Uzbekistan, under the UNODC-WCO (World Customs Organization) Global Container Control Programme (CCP). The visit aimed at learning the best practices of Uzbekistan in customs control and risk management, as well as strengthening cross-border cooperation through the effective interactions between PCUs of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The Customs officers discussed the specifics of obtaining pre-arrival information on railroad checkpoints, became familiar with opportunities of automated database for customs operations and reviewed the challenges of national risk management systems for profiling and targeting of high-risk consignments.

The PCU members of "Chukursay Techkontora" Customs post presented the successful cases of illicit goods seizures basing on innovative risk profiling approaches and advanced customs control instruments.

The PCUs conducted bilateral consultations on implementing regular information exchange mechanism to detect illicit goods and customs violations in the region through the effective coordination of customs control operations in real time within the framework CCP Inter-Regional Network of Customs Authorities and PCUs. The Memorandum of Understanding on establishing the Inter-Regional Network was signed by the Heads of Customs Administration of Afghanistan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan on 22 May 2019 in Tashkent. 

During the visit, the representatives of the State Revenues Committee of Kazakhstan had opportunity to visit the Customs Training Institute of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and learn about training courses for customs officials. In addition, the delegation visited the facilities of National Canine Centre of Uzbekistan and witness the use of sniffer dogs to detect illicit goods.

The CCP Regional Segment for Central Asia is funded by the Government of Japan and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Programme.

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