Cooperation between Western Balkans' customs administrations

BELGRADE - The directors of the customs administrations of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and Montenegro agreed Tuesday to continue with unabated vigour the implementation of an information exchange project aimed at protecting the security of citizens in the region.

Deepening cooperation and reaching agreements on future joint activities by the customs services of the neighboring states is a prerequisite to successful implementation of the project, said the participants in the meeting in Belgrade.

Serbia's Customs Administration Director Milos Tomic said that cooperation with neighbors had resulted in much better prevention of all kinds of abuse.

No customs service can fight illegal trade on its own, as it is a phenomenon including elements of organized crime, said Tomic.

Zlatko Grabar, Croatia's assistant minister of finance and Customs Administration director, expressed willingness to continue to offer professional support to neighbors on the road to EU membership.

He pointed out that the tasks handled by the customs services in the EU were complex and demanding, and that was why good preparation in the pre-accession period was vital to successful operation within the EU Customs Union.

Miro Dzakula, director of the Indirect Taxation Authority in BiH, called for doing away with all barriers to customs cooperation, stressing that it would put the resources of the countries in the region together and connect people exchanging information to ensure a more effective response to challenges faced by customs.

The director of Montenegro's Customs Administration, Vladan Jokovic, said that the customs administrations in the region were committed to fighting organized crime.

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