On 20 April 2021, an online event has been held to acknowledge the completion of the deployment of the WCO Cargo Targeting System (CTS) to the State Customs Committee (SCC), Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is the latest of a growing number of countries to implement the WCO CTS to enhance their cargo risk assessment and targeting capability. The ceremony marked the culmination of a deployment process which included close cooperation between the WCO and the SCC to complete the technical deployment of the WCO CTS software, cargo manifest data assistance and training.

WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya congratulated the SCC on its implementation of the WCO CTS, saying: “The WCO welcomes the steps taken by Azerbaijan Customs to implement information technology solutions such as the WCO CTS, and I am confident that this will be an excellent example for other Customs administrations to follow”. “The successful deployment of the system in Azerbaijan at this time demonstrates the WCO’s ongoing commitment to supporting its Members during the current pandemic”, he added.

Mr. Safar Mehdiyev, Chairman of the State Customs Committee, emphasized that applying the risk management-based  WCO CTS in Azerbaijan's Customs Service was of great importance to the State Customs Committee; the WCO CTS would support risk assessment in the Customs system and enable the collection, storage and exchange of data on cargo, paving the way for enhanced trade facilitation and security by differentiating high-risk cargo from other cargo and accelerating the delivery of low-risk cargo.

The WCO CTS is a cargo manifest risk assessment and targeting solution developed by the WCO for Customs administrations across the globe. It allows those adopting the solution to implement international best practices in cargo risk assessment and targeting, building on key pillars of the WCO’s SAFE Framework of Standards.

For more information on the WCO CTS, please contact cargotargetingsystem@wcoomd.org