With sponsorship of the German Customs Cooperation Fund, a WCO National Workshop on the modernization of the Customs Laboratory of Albania was held in the Customs Laboratory of the Albanian Customs, in Tirana, from 2 to 6 March 2015.

At the opening of the Workshop, the Director of the Customs Laboratory of Barcelona (Spain), Mr. Juan Antonio Fernández Martín, highlighted the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct classification of certain commodities in the Harmonized System (HS). During the Workshop participants discussed relevant areas of analytic methodology, methods validation, quality assurance and considered the possibilities for the modernization of the Customs Laboratory in Albania in order to meet EU standards. The Customs Laboratory of Albania is a well-equipped medium size laboratory that will be relocated to a new modern building at the end of this year. 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. Moreover, some analytical determinations of special interest for Albanian Customs were conducted in the Laboratory under the supervision of the external experts.

The Workshop was closed by Mr. Arber Misja, Director of the Customs Laboratory of Albania, who thanked the representatives from the German and Spanish Customs Administrations and from the WCO Secretariat's Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate for facilitating the high level discussions on the modernization of Albania’s Customs Laboratory. 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 Albania Customs Administration. Also present at the closing ceremony, Dr. Dirk Jacobi, from the Customs Laboratory of Munich, emphasized the importance of the cooperation and networking between Customs Laboratories.