South Caucasus needs improved customs service co-operation, OSCE meeting concludes

TBILISI, 15 May 2007 - Countries in South Caucasus need to foster better co-operation among their customs services to prosper, participants in a two-day conference co-organized by the OSCE Secretariat in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Georgia and the Eurasia Foundation concluded today.

Representatives from national customs departments, the private sector, international organizations and non-governmental organizations from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia identified measures that could improve customs and border procedures in the South Caucasus during the two-day meeting, which ended today in Tbilisi.

"The findings of this meeting should help promote regional trade and co-operation," said Kilian Strauss, Senior Programme Officer at the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. "This is in line with our work to promote international co-operation in the transport sector as a follow-up to last year's OSCE Economic Forum."

Participants discussed how to promote good governance in the customs sector and agreed on several recommendations related to human resource management, inter-agency co-operation, co-operation with the private sector and the implementation of key international conventions in the customs sector.

Andrea Harris, Eurasia Foundation's Regional Vice President for the South Caucasus, added:

"Economic activity in the South Caucasus and its economic profile outside the region has grown in stature in the past few years. More effective customs regulations and procedures will be needed in order for the region to sustain its economic growth and attractiveness to businesses."

The Tbilisi conference will be followed by an OSCE conference on political co-operation on transportation issues in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to be held in October in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.