Turkic Council delegation, headed by Deputy Secretary General Gismat Gozalov, attended the First Meeting of the Heads of Customs Administrations which convened on 4th and 5th October, 2012 in Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.
As a concluding document of the meeting, the Heads of Customs Administrations adopted the following declaration:
Declaration of the First Meeting of the Heads of Customs Administrations of Turkic Speaking States
Nakhchivan City, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 5 October 2012
We, Heads of Customs Administrations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Republic of Turkey, have gathered in Nakhchivan, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 5 October 2012,
NOTING the historical ties of friendship and solidarity, affinity of languages, cultures and historical past, as well as the good neighbourly relations of Turkic Speaking States,
UNDERLINING the importance of developing the cultural, social and economical ties, including cooperation in customs matters, for implementing provisions of the Nakhchivan Agreement on the Establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States of 3 October 2009,
RECALLING the instruction issued by the Heads of States at the Bishkek Summit of 23 August 2012 to enhance cooperation in customs administrations through holding regular meetings at the Ministerial level on issues related to customs,
SEEKING for further strengthening, developing and widening of mutually beneficial cooperation in customs field meeting the national interests of Turkic Speaking States, both in global and regional context,
BEING convinced that cooperation of customs administrations will accelerate passengers’ and cargo traffic and increase transit capacity, as enforcement of customs legislation and fight against customs offences can be more successfully conducted via cooperation amongst customs administrations of Turkic Speaking States,
SEEKING developing cooperation of customs administrations and providing mutual assistance in professional retraining and improvement of professional skills of customs officers,
DECLARING that the basic content of further cooperation will be assistance in the capacity building of customs administrations of Turkic Speaking States,
have agreed to;
1- Enhance cooperation between the customs administrations of Turkic Speaking States for the facilitation of trade and border crossings, and collaborate with each other in order to improve the infrastructures and capacities of the border crossing points and to speed up the crossings of the goods, vehicles and passengers,
2- Appreciate the recent progress in the Silk Road Initiative, encourage the Silk Road Countries to continue their active endeavor in accordance with the Strategy Plan and the Action Plan accepted, reaffirm our support for the participant countries in “Caravanserai” Project and express our willingness to take part in the further stages of the pilot project,
3- Support the «Silk Wind» project initiative and continue to take an active part in this Project,
4- Establish a working group to conduct studies and prepare project proposals in custom area in order to enhance customs cooperation amongst Turkic Speaking States,
5- Nominate contact points for exchanging views on customs issues amongst customs administrations of Turkic Speaking States,
6- Express our commitment to continue our joint efforts with the close coordination by the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States,
7- Welcome and support the initiative of the Ministry of Customs & Trade of Turkey to organize a training seminar on Customs Laboratories in Turkey,
8- Organize training seminars, study visits and/or any other technical assistance programs on various customs topics which will be determined in accordance with the needs of the customs administrations of Turkic Speaking States,
9- Express our willingness to organize data and best practices exchange and to unite their efforts against illicit trafficking in narcotics and smuggling, and to advise the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States of concrete proposals in this sphere within fifteen days,
10- Hold meetings of Heads of the customs administrations of Turkic Speaking States no less than once a year on a regular basis to further the cooperation,
11- Convene working meetings of the customs experts whenever necessary,
12- Express our gratitude to State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan for hosting the first Meeting of the Heads of Customs Administrations of Turkic Speaking States on a high level,
13- Express our appreciation to the Ministry of Customs and Trade of Turkey for inviting the Heads of Customs Administrations of Turkic Speaking States to Turkey for the Second Meeting to be held in 2013.
Adopted on 5 October 2012 in Nakhchivan city in English.
