With sponshorship of the German Customs Cooperation Fund, a WCO National Workshop on the modernization of the Customs Laboratory of Serbia was held in the headquarters of the Serbian Customs in Belgrade, from 23 to 27 February 2015.

At the opening of the Workshop, the Deputy Director General of Serbian Customs, Mr. Duško Marinković, highlighted the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct classification of certain commodities in the Harmonized System (HS), and thanked the representatives from the Spanish Customs Administration and from the WCO Secretariat's Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate for facilitating the high level discussions on the modernization of Serbia’s Customs Laboratory.

During the Workshop participants discussed relevant areas of analytic methodology and considered the possibilities for the modernization of the Customs Laboratory in Serbia in order to meet EU standards.  A wide range of topics related to the HS and Customs Laboratories were addressed and the participants were also thoroughly informed about several databases and documentation specifically designed for the day to day routine in a Customs Laboratory.

The Workshop was closed by Mr. Juan Antonio Fernández Martín, Director of the Customs Laboratory of Barcelona (Spain).  In his remarks he also referred to the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct and uniform classification of commodities in the HS and in the national Customs tariff and for the well-functioning of the Serbia Customs Administration.  He concluded by emphasizing the importance of the cooperation and networking between Customs Laboratories.