A team of WCO experts supported the delivery of a workshop on Customs transit for the Members of the Andean Community – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The workshop was held on 17 and 18 September 2018 at the General Secretariat of the Andean Community (SGCAN) in Lima, Peru and aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the community transit procedure based on guiding principles and recommended practices drawn from the WCO Transit Guidelines.

The participants discussed various aspects of the Customs transit procedure, such as legal framework, use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and electronic information exchange, simplification of formalities, guarantee system, risk management and the use of Customs seals and other security measures. Best practices in the area of transit were also presented during the workshop.

As part of the discussions on ICT and efficient information management, the workshop participants studied the benefits of the SINTIA system – an IT system for transit operations deployed in the countries of the MERCOSUR region - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.  Current initiates of having the SINTIA coverage extended to Colombia and Ecuador were also subject of discussion.

The information exchanged during the event will help the Members of the Andean Community to update the Community Customs Transit Regulation - Decision 617.

The WCO assistance in the delivery of the sub-regional workshop on transit was highly appreciated by the SGCAN and the workshop participants.