With sponsorship of CCF China and cooperation of the Chinese and the Spanish Customs Administrations, a WCO National Workshop on the modernization of the Customs Laboratory of Mongolia was held at the Ulaanbaatar Customs House, in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), from 31 July to 3 August 2017.  The Workshop was attended by 25 Customs Officers from Mongolia Customs involved in Customs Laboratory and Harmonized System classification matters.

During the opening of the Workshop, the Director of the Public Administration and Management Department of Mongolia Customs, Mr. Tseyenregzen Ochirsuren, thanked the representatives from the Chinese and the Spanish Customs Administrations and from the WCO Secretariat for facilitating the discussions on the modernization of Mongolia's Customs Laboratory.  In his remarks, he referred to the importance of a Customs Laboratory for the correct collection of Customs duties and for the uniform classification of commodities in the national Customs tariff.  Also present at the opening ceremony, Mr. Yunge Wang, Director of the Customs Laboratory of Shanghai (China) referred to the benefits of the cooperation between Customs Laboratories and also to the importance of the "test procedures" in the context of the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement.

The Central Customs Laboratory of Mongolia is a well-equipped medium size laboratory that was established in 1996.  Several topics related to the WCO strategy on Customs Laboratories were addressed and the participants were also thoroughly informed about several databases and documentation specifically designed for the day to day routine in a Customs Laboratory, in particular, in the context of the analysis of sensitive commodities for Mongolia's Customs such as pharmaceuticals, vitamins, textiles and polymers.

During the Workshop, a wide range of chemical analysis matters was addressed and the participants attending the Workshop were also thoroughly informed about the instruments and tools specifically produced by the WCO to facilitate the routine of the Customs Laboratories.

Present at the closing ceremony, Mr. Juan Moreno Peceño, from the Customs Laboratory of Madrid (Spain), emphasized the importance of the cooperation and networking between the Customs Laboratories all over the world and referred to the possibilities offered by the WCO Regional Customs Laboratories initiative.