With sponsorship of the German Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF/Germany), a WCO National Workshop on the implementation of the Customs Laboratory was held in the headquarters of the Montenegro Customs in Podgorica, from 29 September to 3 October 2014.

At the opening of the Workshop, the Assistant Director of the Customs Operation and Legal Sector, Mrs. Snezana Vuckovic, highlighted the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct classification of certain commodities in the Harmonized System (HS) and thanked the representatives from the German Customs Administration and from the WCO Secretariat’s Directorate of Tariff and Trade Affairs for facilitating the high level discussions on the implementation of the Customs Laboratory in Montenegro.

During the Seminar the group discussed relevant areas such as quality management and sampling. A wide range of topics related to the HS and Customs Laboratories was addressed and the 16 participants were also thoroughly informed about several databases specifically designed for the day to day routine in a Customs Laboratory.

The Workshop was closed by Mr. Dirk Jacobi from the Munich Customs Laboratory. In his remarks he also emphasized 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 Montenegro Customs Administration.