ACTION PLAN OF THE
BSEC WORKING GROUP ON CUSTOMS MATTERS
The mission of the Working Group is to promote activities in the BSEC region in the field of customs cooperation taking into account the provisions of the BSEC Charter, the BSEC Economic Agenda for the Future, the Resolutions, Decisions and Recommendations adopted by the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the priorities of the Member States and the global challenges.
The Working Group will be working towards the following tasks:
1. Discussing and making relevant proposals on the possibility of establishing a preliminary information exchange mechanism among the interested BSEC Member States about goods and vehicles moved through the state borders of BSEC Member States.
2. Discussing the possibilities of concluding bilateral/multilateral agreements on cooperation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters between the interested BSEC Member States.
3. Encouraging cooperation among the customs laboratories on unification methods for analysis of goods and their classification.
4. Promoting the harmonization and simplification of customs procedures taking into account the principles of the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure and exchanging the experience in this respect.
5. Promoting the inter-agency cooperation within each BSEC Member State by means of MoU and/or other cooperative instruments.
6. Exchanging the experience on implementing the single window concept among the BSEC Member States.
7. Considering the issue related to simplification of customs formalities by encouraging the BSEC Member States to accede to and implement the provisions of relevant customs international conventions. In this respect, through its Meetings the Working Group will monitor the progress made in terms of accession to these conventions, particularly the Revised Kyoto Convention and update the table showing the state of play regarding the Member States’ accession to those conventions.
8. Discussing the possibilities of alignment and simplification of the procedures at the borders through local arrangements between neighboring customs and border guard authorities (synchronization of operations on the border crossing points situated on main transport corridors, etc.)
The present Action Plan shall be implemented without any prejudice to the international obligations, EU commitments or provisions of the national legislation of the BSEC Member States.