OSCE holds trade and transport workshop with Black Sea Economic Cooperation

The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, jointly with the Secretariat of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), held a workshop on 3 April 2013 in Istanbul on border and customs issues.

The workshop focused on topics covered in the OSCE-UNECE Handbook of Best Practice at Border Crossings – A Trade and Transport Facilitation Perspective and gathered more than 50 senior customs officials and consular staff from BSEC Member States (all of which are OSCE participating States) as well as from Mediterranean Partner for Co-operation Egypt. 

Participants agreed on the importance of more effective implementation of international legal conventions, tools and standards, including the World Customs Organization’s Revised Kyoto Convention and the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s International Convention on the Harmonization of Frontier Controls of Goods.  In that context, BSEC members who have not yet ratified these legal instruments were urged to step up their efforts in doing so.

The need to increase inter-agency co-operation among customs and border agencies at the national level as well as find a better balance between security and trade facilitation and 'adopt a risk-based approach in customs controls' were emphasized. Participants also learned about the opportunities offered by public private partnerships in border management, which can enable governments and the private sector to share contributions and benefits of modernizing infrastructure and procedures.

The OSCE-UNECE Handbook provides an overview of tools and methodologies that can be used to harmonize and simplify existing procedures for legitimate cargo, as well as recommendations to improve inter-agency co-operation. Through case studies and practical examples, it also provides an opportunity for various countries to learn from each other’s experiences.  It is available in English and Russian at //www.osce.org/eea/88200 and http://www.unece.org/trans/publications/wp30/best_practices.html, and will soon be made available in Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian languages.