The official closing of the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) Light-Touch Intervention (LTI) for Moldova Customs Service (MCS) was celebrated on 12 September 2023 in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, with the participation of 32 people, including the Deputy Director General of the MCS and Heads of Units, the Deputy Head of Cooperation of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, delegates of the Ministry of Finance, General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, Bureau for Migration and Asylum, Border Police, Diaspora Relations Bureau, representatives from the Red Cross Moldova, and the GTFP team.
The GTFP launched its light-touch intervention in Moldova on 19 September 2022 with the overall objective of supporting the MCS in enhancing the procedures for expedited shipments and release of relief consignments and humanitarian aid, thus leading to increased maturity with the WTO TFA Article 7.8 on Expedited Shipments and Article 8 on Border Agency Cooperation.
The capacity building activities ranged from workshops on disaster management, e-commerce, coordinated border management, and middle management development to table-top simulation exercises, including the MCS public and private stakeholders involved in processing humanitarian aids and relief goods, strengthened institutional capacity, partnership with the humanitarian actors, and interagency cooperation.
As a result of the support, the MCS developed and adopted Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Receipt and Customs Clearance of International Aid Granted to the Republic of Moldova in Exceptional Situations and established a List of Essential Goods needed during times of emergency.
The completion of the LTI represents a significant achievement for the MCS and the GTFP, as the implementation of the SOPs enables efficient and expedited clearance during exceptional circumstances in Moldova through predictability and preparedness, leading to a coordinated response.
For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.