The SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) supports follow-up Mercator Mission in Uzbekistan

17 March 2023

From 6 to 10 March 2023, within the framework of the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), the WCO delivered a Mercator follow-up mission for the State Customs Committee (SCC) of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

After three years of implementation, since the completion of the Mercator diagnostic mission, this follow-up mission pointed at verifying progress made regarding the recommendations issued in February 2020 and provided additional recommendations to further enhance the country's sustainable implementation of trade facilitation provisions.

During the activity, the WCO experts assessed the progress of compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA), highlighting significant improvements on topics such as Customs automation, Post Clearance Audit, and availability of information. Likewise, for the successful completion of this mission, other border agencies and the private sector were involved as key stakeholders in the international trade chain.

The level of progress achieved by the SCC could not have been possible without the highest level of political will, which undoubtedly will help their ongoing efforts to join the World Trade Organization.

For more information on the GTFP, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.