The World Customs Organization (WCO), through financial support from the Eurocustoms fund, delivered a National Workshop on Risk Management for the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ITA BiH). The Workshop took place in Banja Luka, ITA headquarters, on 4 - 8 December 2017 and was attended by 20 officials from ITA BiH from various Departments (Department for Risk Management and Selectivity, Customs Sector, Law Enforcement). The WCO accredited experts Ms Baiba Truksane from the Latvian Customs Authority and Mr. Uwe F. Mallon from the German Customs Authority acted as facilitators for the event.

The workshop was found timely and of significant importance for ITA BiH since the Authority had recently established a dedicated Department for Risk Management and Selectivity. The December WCO capacity building activity was a very good opportunity for strengthening the existing and adopting new approaches as a solid foundation for future operations like risk assessment, profiling and targeting, including information and intelligence management. The ITA participants also learned about relationships between risk-based selectivity and effective resource allocation, facilitation and controls. In the course of the workshop, the participants had ample opportunity to learn and exchange experience with Customs colleagues / WCO facilitators from Latvia and Germany regarding identification risks as well as how to develop an actual profile using the WCO Customs Risk Management Compendium. During the discussion part, the WCO facilitators and participants exchanged freely their experiences and knowledge regarding management procedures and practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU. The practical exercises in a friendly atmosphere also contributed a lot to further understanding the various specific topics.

The knowledge and experience gained from the Workshop are to benefit the Indirect Taxation Authority Department for Risk Management both in the strategic and operational aspects of their future work.