Kazakhstan's Delegation Discussed Customs Cooperation in Brussels

The delegation of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan represented by Deputy Chairman Bakytzhan Slyamov and Head of the International Cooperation Department Yermek Kozhabergenov participated in the 139/140 Sessions of the Customs Cooperation Council that was held at the headquarters of the World Customs Organization on 23-25 June, 2022.

On the eve of the main event of the international customs community, the Kazakh delegation met with Mr.Kristian Vanderwaeren, Administrator General of General Administration of Customs and Excise of Service Public Federal Finances of the Kingdom of Belgium.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation in the field of customs. The parties expressed their readiness to strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships in order to ensure the uninterrupted movement of goods and support international trade, especially in the context of the recovery of national economies after the global pandemic.

Besides, a working meeting was held between Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization and the delegations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Republic of Uzbekistan that arrived for the participation of the WCO Council.

The Secretary-General noted the important role of Central Asia in the development of the world economy and expressed confidence that the countries of the region will occupy a worthy niche in ensuring the cross-border movement of goods along the China-Europe route. The meeting participants discussed the possibility of implementing a project for the exchange of preliminary information on goods and vehicles transported between the countries of Central Asia.

At the session of the WCO Council, the participants summed up the results of activities in various areas of the organization's work over the past financial year and outlined promising areas. Discussions focused on the WCO Strategic Plan for 2022-2025, e-commerce, information technology development, the role of customs in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and facilitating the cross-border movement of essential goods.

During the session of the WCO Council, elections were held for the Deputy Secretary-General of the organization, the distribution of membership in the main working bodies of the WCO among its member countries - the Political Commission, the Finance Committee, the Audit Committee, as well as the Vice-Chairmen of the regions and the Chairman of the WCO Council.  

The Republic of Kazakhstan was successfully elected as a member of the Finance Committee from the sub-region “East” of the European Region for 2022-2023. The Financial Committee determines the financing of the main activities of the WCO, approves the development of international standards in the field of customs, evaluates the effectiveness of the organization, and considers other issues in strategic fields of customs.