Baku, Azerbaijan, 4-7 April 2016
The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Universal Postal Union‘s (UPU) with the support of the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee, Azer Post, Japanese Customs Cooperation Fund and the WCO Regional Office of Capacity Building (ROCB) for Europe region, organized a Joint WCO-UPU Customs-Post Workshop for the Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus Sub-Region from 4 to 7 April 2016 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Shahin Bagirov, Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee and Mr. Iltimas Mammadov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, together with officials from the WCO, UPU, and ROCB. All the dignitaries highlighted the need for an enhanced collaboration and exchange of information between Customs and Post to better leverage new opportunities stemming from growing e-commerce, and to collectively meet current and emerging challenges in the postal supply chain.
The Joint Workshop was attended by 36 participants representing Customs and designated postal operators from 10 countries of the Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus Sub-Region (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan).
The Workshop enhanced participants’ knowledge of the relevant WCO and UPU instruments and tools in terms of strengthening existing cooperative relationships between Customs and postal operators at the national level, in particular improving the electronic exchange of advance information, and enhancing each other’s capabilities in facilitating postal items in a growing e-commerce environment whilst ensuring effective compliance with various regulatory requirements.
It examined in detail various ways to implement advance electronic exchange of information (pre-loading/pre-arrival) between posts and Customs by using the UPU’s Customs Declaration System (CDS) and/or any other customized solution based on the joint WCO/UPU Customs-Post EDI messaging standards and the WCO Data Model, for an efficient risk management and improved service delivery.
Another important aspect of the workshop was the sharing of national experiences where Customs and postal officials delivered joint presentations on the existing situation regarding postal-Customs clearance and potential ways to improve it.
Participants also visited the Azer Post International Mail Centre to observe the practical aspects of postal operations. They acknowledged the importance of the joint workshop, which provided a common platform to discuss issues of mutual interest and explore potential solutions in achieving shared objectives, besides learning from others’ working examples and best practices.