With sponsorship of Eurocustoms and cooperation of the Spanish Customs Administration, a WCO National Workshop on the modernization of the Customs Laboratory of Uzbekistan was held at the Central Customs Laboratory of Uzbekistan Customs, in Tashkent, from 25 to 28 April 2017.

During the opening of the Workshop, the Chief of the Central Customs Laboratory, Mr. Bahtier Abduganiev, thanked the representatives from the Spanish Customs Administration and from the WCO Secretariat's Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate for facilitating the discussions on the modernization of Uzbekistan’s Customs Laboratory.  In his remarks, he referred to the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct collection of Customs duties and for the uniform classification of commodities in the national Customs tariff.

The Customs Laboratory of Uzbekistan is a well-equipped medium size laboratory that has been recently relocated to a new modern building.  Several topics related to the WCO vision on the future of 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, in particular, in the context of the analysis of sensitive commodities for Uzbekistan´s Customs such as pharmaceuticals, textiles and polymers.

During the Workshop, a wide range of chemical analysis matters were addressed and the participants attending the Workshop were also thoroughly informed about the instruments and tools specifically produced by the WCO to facilitate the routine of the Customs Laboratories.

Present at the closing ceremony, Mr. José Moreno Peceño, from the Customs Laboratory of Madrid (Spain), emphasized the importance of the cooperation and networking between the Customs Laboratories all over the world and referred to the possibilities offered by the WCO Regional Customs Laboratories initiative.