On 30 July 2021, the UNODC’s Global Firearms Programme (GFP) conducted a workshop on cooperation between the private and public sectors on detecting firearms in fast parcels. The workshop was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MFTER), State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PO BiH), Agency for Postal Traffic of BiH, Border Police BiH, Indirect Taxation Authority (Customs of BiH), and private sector representatives.
The objective of the workshop was to identify areas where governmental institutions and private courier companies in BiH can increase and improve cooperation in the detection of firearms in fast parcels and promote the information-sharing culture.
UNODC GFP has presented the gap analysis on the cooperation framework between the BiH Customs and commercial sector entities. It has identified thirteen areas where cooperation could be further improved, including acknowledging the inputs of the private courier companies for the development of a regulatory framework, simplification of procedures when traders fulfil certain conditions, reduction of the documentation burden, establishment of cooperation forums, etc.
The event has resulted in the endorsement of the proposed areas for increasing the cooperation between the private and public sectors, and in the identification of several solutions that could improve the cooperation. These included the identification of opportunities for increased consultations between the courier companies and the Customs in the process of developing new sector’s regulations; the identification of the relevant legislative framework that will provide preferential treatment by the Customs for companies that comply with specific conditions,
the identification of the need to research the possibility of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between private courier companies and Customs for exchange of information, based on risk indicators, which will regulate the type of information to be exchanged, the frequency and the format for sharing such information.
This activity is implemented with the financial support provided by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway through the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap Trust Fund and supported by the European Union.
