Between 13-15 September a regional workshop on the Revised Kyoto Convention was conducted in Almaty, gathering together key national partners from the customs agencies of Central Asian countries. The workshop ended the series of working meetings conducted in each country where discussions on the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and its implementation aspects were conducted, and the compatibility of the countries’ national legislation assessed and reviewed.

Kazakhstan, being the only Central Asian country to have acceded to the RKC so far, presented the country’s achievements in terms of implementation of the Convention and its standards relating to transparent and coherent customs procedures and practices, use of a modern approach in risk management, auditing methods and efficient use of IT technologies.

European experts presented comparative analysis reports, which have been developed based on country assessments showing the compatibility of national customs legislations with the provisions of the RKC based on country-specific examples, and describe related measures planned or already implemented by the CA customs administrations.

The main objectives of the workshop were to jointly review the national customs legislations and their compatibility with the RKC standards, promote the Convention’s advantages and provide final recommendations related to accession. Particular issues of customs procedures such as customs control and declarations processing, procedures of temporary storage of goods, check of goods and customs clearance, and use of IT technologies in Central Asian countries were discussed, and the relevant legislative documents were evaluated and compared with the General Annex standards.

The general goal of this BOMCA activity is awareness raising about accession to and/or implementation of the Revised Kyoto Convention, which is important for the introduction of advanced, effective and trade-friendly customs controls.