Fostering cross-Border cooperation: Highlights from the Eastern Partnership Customs Cooperation Seminar in Lithuania with EU4PFM participation

In Vilnius, on September 20-21, 2023, EU4PFM convened for a vital Seminar on Customs Cooperation. Keynotes by Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Survila, and the Director General of Customs, Darius Zvironas, set the stage.

Discussions centered on EU-Eastern Partnership customs collaboration, global sanctions policy, IT border solutions, and electronic data exchange where representatives of the customs services of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were talking about the main achievements, challenges, and prospects for future cooperation in the European integration progress in the field of customs cooperation.

Vytenis Alisauskas, EU4PFM Key International Customs Expert, highlighted EU4PFM’s contribution to the customs sphere of Ukraine in his speech, singling out the accession to the Conventions on a common transit and simplification of formalities, the international functioning of NCTS from October 1, 2022, the introduction of AEO in Ukraine, the approval of the Strategic Plan for the SCS digitalisation for 2023.

Among the strategic goals for the near term, Vytenis Alisauskas highlighted the implementation of the Phase 5 of NCTS; development of amendments to the current Customs Code; development of Phase 6 of NCTS.

Mr. Alisauskas noted that having a political will, organizational structure and cooperation between partners, such projects like EU4PFM are opportunity to make changes in Customs legal and IT areas, and it’s the opportunity to achieve good results from the EU membership perspective.