CAREC Customs Cooperation Committee Regional Seminar on Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization

Background and Objectives

The seminar was part of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) ongoing support for the implementation of the 7-point common action plan (CAP) endorsed last August 2002 by the Customs Cooperation Committee (CCC) of East and Central Asia Department. The workshop was jointly sponsored by ADB and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The seminar was a combination of training and group discussion on three agenda items of the CAP:

• joint-border processing,
• transit, and
• ICT for information sharing and customs modernization.

The training component was designed to meet the request for capacity building indicated in the work program agreed by the CCC working groups during their joint meeting last April 2003. The group discussion provided an opportunity to review and highlight the priorities of the joint work program.

The CCC is a group of heads of customs administrations of the East and Central Asian countries joining a larger regional cooperation program supported by ADB.

Participants

The seminar was coordinated by East and Central Asia Department which brought together 24 customs officials from Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.