Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

An action plan between the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee and the International Association of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Customs and Logistics was signed in Baku on May 4 following the three-day international conference on logistics.

The document was signed by Chairman of the State Customs Committee Safar Mehdiyev and President of the International Association of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Customs and Logistics Antonio Llobet de Pablo.

Personnel reforms at the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan will continue until full transparency in the work is achieved, Mehdiyev told reporters later on that day.

He noted that the staff reshuffle at the Committee does not mean that serious violations were revealed in activities of the employees.

The chairman further noted that changing customs tariffs is not on the agenda in Azerbaijan.

He recalled that usually the tariff changes are proposed within the framework of discussions on the budget package, and rarely in the middle of the year.

Mehdiyev went on to say that Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee focuses on introduction of modern technologies in its activity while responding to a question about the possible use of blockchain technology in the work of the country's customs bodies.

“The current changes in global trade lead to the need for reforms in the customs system, which is inevitable. I think we will apply such innovations in our activity,” he said.

In April 2017, the problems of using blockchain technology in the customs sphere were touched upon at the session of the Permanent Technical Committee of the World Customs Organization.

Big prospects for the use of blockchain technology in electronic commercial transaction management, risk management, information exchange between customs bodies, customs audit and fight against offences were stressed at the session.

A conference of the International Association of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Customs and Logistics was held in Azerbaijani capital on May 2-4. As many as 150 representatives of 25 countries are taking part in the conference.

Such issues as the Silk Road prospects, secure business environment and its key elements, creation of a secure supply chain, prospects for border security as part of the Silk Road, intermodal transportations and logistics prospects as part of the corridor were discussed at the conference.

As part of the conference, an annual assembly of the International Association of AEO Customs and Logistics and a seminar on blockchain technology also took place.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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