Under the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Funds of Japan and Germany, a WCO Workshop on Customs Laboratories was held in Belgrade (Serbia), from 28 to 31 March 2017, and it was attended by more than 20 Customs officers from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  The Workshop was co-facilitated by a WCO Accredited Trainer on HS matters from the European Union (EU) and an expert Customs Chemist from the German Customs Laboratories (Munich).

The opening of this activity was officiated by Mr. Veselin Milošević, Assistant Coordinator of the Director, from the Customs Administration of Serbia.  In his opening remarks, Mr. Milošević highlighted the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct tariff classification of goods and the efforts of Serbia Customs in establishing a modern Customs Laboratory.  He also emphasized the importance of the Workshop in order to promote cooperation and efficient exchange of information between the Customs Laboratories in the Region.

The participants explained the current situation of the Customs Laboratories in their respective administrations regarding equipment and staff and shared their future plans for the modernization of the laboratories.

The participants also explained the procedures in their administrations regarding the second analysis and test procedures, in line with the provisions of Article 5.3 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.  They also discussed relevant areas of quality assurance and accreditation of laboratories under the ISO 17025 standard and they noted the possibilities that the CLEN (Customs Laboratories European Network) could offer for the improvement of their laboratories.  At the closing ceremony, Ms. Dragana Dubajić, Assistant of the Tariff Section of the Director, thanked attendants and facilitators for their participation and emphasized the importance of the cooperation and networking between the Customs Laboratories in the Region.