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The Central Office of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan held an international round table on the practical implementation of the World Customs Organization Guidelines for the mutual recognition of authorized economic operators (AEOs) in the region of Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

The event took place on Monday as part of the visit of the executive secretary of the International Center for Transport Diplomacy at the UN, Igor Runov, to Turkmenistan. The meeting via videoconference was attended by WCO experts, representatives of the UN Group of Friends on Sustainable Transport, the secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission for the International Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), as well as customs authorities of the countries of Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Customs Service and the Agency of Transport and Communications participated from the Turkmen side.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the main provisions of the WCO Framework of Standards for Ensuring Security and Facilitating Global Trade in terms of their implementation at the regional level and taking into account best practices in other regions of the world, according to the website of the customs department of Turkmenistan.

A general assessment of the activities of existing regional agreements on mutual recognition of AEO status was given, and examples of the operation of such agreements in such regions of the world as South Africa, the Middle East, and the European Economic Community were presented. A representative of the Moldavian customs shared her experience in implementing the AEO institution.

Participants also discussed the concept of creating a regional agreement on mutual recognition of AEOs in Eurasia.

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Photo: customs.gov.tm