Warsaw, 19/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Poland is arguing in favour of active cooperation between the European customs services and those of the Eastern Partnership countries, but also with those of the three accession candidate countries: Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). It is the initiator of this project and would like to see the other member states commit more to this.
A seminar is being held in Krakow from Wednesday 19 to Friday 21 October, on the subject of trade between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries. According to the deputy finance minister and head of Polish customs, Jacek Kapica, the work should be focused around three axes: on the terms and security of trade, on risk management and also on better customs co-organisation. “The aim of this seminar is to bring the Eastern Partnership countries into line with the standards of the Union. We support the development and convergence of procedures to facilitate the trade of goods between the countries of the EU and those of the Partnership”, says Jacek Kapica. During the three days of this seminar, they will discuss reinforcing capacity to facilitate trade, and also feedback from experiences to determine the best practices for this cooperation.
To illustrate the efficacy of bilateral cooperation between the partner countries, the EU and the three accession candidate countries will take stock of their work. Ukraine and the United Kingdom have their joint customs forces working on managing the risks of trade and cooperation in terms of exchange of information. Moldova and Germany have looked into security issues and Denmark and Georgia have worked together on the issue of training customs agents.
The Krakow seminar aims to end with the adoption of the declaration. This document will make up the foundations of the customs strategy of the partner countries. It will decide on additional measures to be taken by the member states, the Partnership countries and the European Commission. (VW/transl.fl)