Strengthening regional cooperation among Port Control Units in the Caspian Sea

On 23-25 November 2017, the representatives of the State Revenues Committee of the Ministry of Finances of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in particular, the members of Port Control Unit in the Aktau sea port and the Central Apparatus of the Committee visited Azerbaijan to exchange best practices and experience in container control and strengthen regional cooperation among Port Control Units (PCU) in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The visit was organized as a part of the UNODC - World Customs Organization Global Container Control Programme (CCP).

During the mission hosted by the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan (SCC), Kazakh customs officers visited the PCUs in the newly reconstructed "Alyat" sea port on the Caspian Sea, the "Astara" dry port on the Azeri-Iranian border, in addition to the SCC Canine Centre in Baku, where they discussed ways to strengthen customs control and improve practical cooperation on the investigation of customs related offences with the senior customs officials of the SCC.

The delegation had a unique opportunity to familiarize themselves with the customs administration procedures on customs clearance and customs control procedures offered through a risk management system in the Baku Main customs department. The members of CCP PCU in "Astara" shared their special experience on profiling and identification of high-risk consignments that resulted in the record heroin seizures in 2016, with their counterparts from Kazakhstan.  Both Azeri and Kazakh customs officers working under the CCP renewed their commitment to continue information sharing dialogue and strengthen cooperation to prevent illicit goods trafficking within the Caspian Sea region.       

The CCP Regional Segment for Central Asia and Azerbaijan is funded by 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, as well as the Government of Japan.