A meeting between administration of the State Customs Committee of Transdniestria and European Union experts was held in the State Customs Committee. The group of visitors included delegates from EUBAM, not mandated to fulfill its mission in the territory of Transdniestria, and was headed by Wolfgang Behrendt, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova. The visit was initiated by European Union diplomats and was carried out due to participation in the meeting of the EU Delegation to Moldova.
Among key themes discussed during the dialogue were the issues of resumption of cargo rail transportation through the territory of Transdniestria and further perspectives for trilateral cooperation (Transdniestria, the Republic of Moldova, and European Union) in customs area.
In the course of discussing the rail transportation issue EU delegation proposed to consider possibilities of problem solution relating to performance of customs control of railway cargoes in the format of working meeting between Customs Services of Transdniestria and Moldova with EU participation as neutral party. Within the framework of issues discussed representatives of the State Custom Committee brought to the attention of the EU experts core points, that are fundamental in organization of such cooperation. The first one is principle of equality of the participants of the talks, which is ignored by the Republic of Moldova. The second one is the need to provide Transdniesrtian railway stations with international codes without which rail cargo terminals de jure do not exist therefore there is no legal basis for organization of customs control at these stations.
In the context of the issue relating to Moldavian-Transdniestrian cooperation in customs area the State Customs Committee paid EU colleagues’ attention to a number of aspects, including problematic concerning customs seals which is the evidence of unilateral refusal by the Republic of Moldova to cooperate with Transdniestria on customs matters. Documents supported this fact were handed over to EU representatives.
Together with aforementioned themes significant attention was focused during the meeting on implementation in customs practice of international standards and the WCO recommendations which are the basis of EU and Transdniestrian customs legislation (Kyoto convention, Framework of standards to secure and facilitate global trade). Customs officers of Transdniestria demonstrated to EU delegation information and customs technologies successfully introduced into everyday activity in accordance with international standards (electronic declaration, risk-management system, single window, post-audit). Representatives of European Union expressed great interest to this topic and noted high level of technical and professional capacity of Transdniestrian Customs bodies.
Resulted in discussion European experts expressed suggestion to enhance cooperation in customs area and to organize working meetings with participation of European Union aimed at resolution of issues raised during the dialogue. The parties came to understanding that advance in such cooperation requires elaborating mechanisms for interaction and decision making, meeting the interests of all participants of cooperation.