A National Workshop on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) was conducted in Minsk, Belarus from 15 to 19 May 2017, which was organized by the WCO and sponsored by the Chinese Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF/China).
This Workshop was a follow up mission to the WCO Sub-Regional Workshop on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) that was conducted in September 2015.
Seventeen 17 participants in charge of PCA, holding leading positions in the Belarus Customs Committee as well as in the Belarus region, attended the Workshop.
As a hub for European-Eurasian trade, a major part of shipments from and to the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union are cleared by Belarus Customs. In this context, Belarus Customs is keen to improve its PCA programme that plays an important role in further facilitating trade, detecting Customs irregularities, securing revenue and supporting business activities.
The Workshop focused on the following areas: the benefits of PCA, including the fact that it facilitates trade and enhances traders’ compliance; the organizational set up of PCA; auditor training and human resource management relating to PCA; and the audit cycle such as methods of targeting and the conducting of field audits. For a more practical and intensive understanding of PCA, case studies and group exercises were undertaken.
Representatives of Belarus Customs presented their policy and the way they conduct PCA operations as well as the Customs clearance procedures applied by the Minsk Regional Customs Office.
The Workshop was marked by intensive and fruitful discussions about best practices and possible solutions to Belarus Customs’ challenges, and the host administration showed its willingness to continuously improve its PCA operations.