The World Customs Organization (WCO), in cooperation with the Russia Federal Customs, organized a Sub-regional Workshop on Time Release Study (TRS) for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Members from 1 to 5 April 2019, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The meeting was attended by more than 40 participants from Customs Administrations of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russian Federation together with other trade stakeholders from Russia, including Other Government Agencies and Private Sector.
The Topics presented during the Workshop included key aspects related to the TRS such as the TRS methodology, Members experiences related to carrying out TRS and the context that motivates countries to conduct TRS at national, regional or international level.
It is important to highlight that the event allowed participants to understand that TRS tool is used to measure the time taken from the arrival of goods to their physical release, with a view to identify bottlenecks in the flow process of cargo and to formulate recommendations and actions to address such bottlenecks. The concept of TRS has evolved over the past years, opening opportunities for Customs Administrations to work in a collaborative manner with other relevant government agencies and trade stakeholders in the arena of cross-border trade.
At the end of the Workshop, participants jointly drafted a summary report of the meeting expressing their desire for TRS to be carried out in their respective countries in full accordance with the new version of the WCO TRS Guide, known as the “Guide to Measure the Time required for the Release of Goods (Version 3)”.