26.11.2021

On November 26, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization Kunio Mikuriya, who is in our country on a working visit.

The issues of further expansion of the mutually beneficial cooperation between our country and this authoritative industry international structure were considered.

Uzbekistan stands as a member of the World Customs Organization since 1992. In recent years, there has been a tangible intensification of interactions with this organization.

In 2019, the road map for cooperation was adopted. Uzbekistan joined the Kyoto and Istanbul conventions, and also signed the Agreement on participation in the Global Trade Facilitation Program, within which 12 events have already been held.

With the assistance of the Organization, since January 2020, the automated system «Single Window» («One-stop shop») has been introduced, and the Situational Center for the Coordination of Customs Control has been established. Recently, our Customs Laboratory received the status of the Regional Laboratory of the World Customs Organization.

The Customs Institute of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan is accredited in the Research Program of this international structure.

Assistance is rendered in professional development of customs officers. Over the past few years, over 200 of our customs officers have taken part in short-term training courses of the Organization.

In addition, the regional cooperation is developing. Yesterday a meeting of the customs services of the countries of the region was effectively held in Tashkent.

At a meeting with Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya, a special attention was paid to the cooperation on improving and increasing the efficiency of the activities of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan.

The importance of implementing the joint events and projects on digitalization, introducing advanced international standards, modernizing customs posts based on the use of intelligent systems, improving the regulatory framework on combating corruption, smuggling and customs violations, training specialists and other areas was emphasized.

The need for close cooperation on the country’s speedy accession to the World Trade Organization was noted.

An agreement was reached on the adoption of a new «road map» to expand the practical partnerships between Uzbekistan and the World Customs Organization.