BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 7
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The construction of new railway and road transport corridors across the region, combined with the restoration of long abandoned pre-existing routes, will lead to a new transit reality for the Caucasus and beyond, Secretary General of the WCO, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya told Trend.
“Through this transit role, the region will have the opportunity to further diversify its transport connections with global markets.
In 2006, Azerbaijan acceded to the WCO’s International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (as amended), known as the Revised Kyoto Convention or RKC, which is the blueprint for modern and efficient Customs procedures in the 21st Century. Through its accession to the RKC and its enrolment in programs such as the CCP, Azerbaijan Customs has demonstrated the country’s commitment to the further improvement, simplification and modernization of Customs services, which is undoubtedly a key element for the development and facilitation of international trade in transit. We believe that Azerbaijan Customs will be in a position to contribute significantly to the smooth functioning of these transit corridors,” he said.
Mikuriya noted that for the past two years (2019-2021), Azerbaijan Customs, in its capacity as a WCO Vice-Chair, has been representing the Customs administrations of the WCO Europe region in various WCO working bodies.
“Several WCO regional structures (WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building for the WCO Europe region, WCO Regional Dog Training Centre and WCO Regional Training Centre) are hosted by Azerbaijan, and support WCO capacity building activities when these are organized in the region. Some international events co-organized by the WCO and Azerbaijan Customs have been held successfully in Azerbaijan, such as the PICARD and WCO IT/TI Conferences, which took place in 2015 and 2019 respectively. In the future, the WCO will continue to support Azerbaijan Customs with its modernization efforts, as well as benefiting from Azerbaijan Customs’ contributions to the activities of various WCO working bodies,” added the WCO secretary general.
--
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
