On July 17-20 BOMCA organized a study tour in Latvia and Lithuania for representatives of border, customs, and veterinary and phytosanitary agencies of Central Asian countries. The activity gathered 20 officers from border, customs and veterinary/phytosanitary institutions of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan who were given an opportunity to learn from the European experience and observe on the spot the advantages of intra-agency and inter-agency cooperation. 

The participants were welcomed by the Latvian and Lithuanian border, customs, veterinary and phytosanitary agencies. They were informed about the agencies’ organizational structure, the principles and advantages of intra- and inter-agencies cooperation and exchange of information which constitute key elements of Integrated Border Management. Such practical aspects as border control procedures and technical means, green border monitoring and joint investigative tactics were demonstrated to participants on the spot during site visits to the borders between Latvia and Belarus, as well as Lithuania and Belarus .

The wider goal of this BOMCA activity was to highlight the best practices and examples applied by EU on its external borders to introduce effective legal and procedural instruments for managing migration flows.