Members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States to apply common customs procedures

Almaty. June 6. Silkroadnews – Members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States will sign a protocol on application of common customs procedures and standards, Secretary General of the Turkic Council Ambassador Ramil Hasanov said, Trend reports.

“Signing of these documents shall result in further simplification of intergovernmental work, and we shall get the same standards at the same time in different countries. Today the Council realizes two projects – the Silk Road and Caravanserai, thus, we want to strengthen and extend them. These projects, directed to simplify the current operations in the field of customs to an even greater degree and providing for a full transition to electronic systems, not only in Azerbaijan, but also in all the member countries of the Council, will allow more simplified and transparent customs procedures for transit cargo transportation,” R. Hasanov said.

According to the Secretary General, the protocols are being prepared currently.

“At the moment there are negotiations between the members of the working group, and a good thing is that the parties have reached an initial agreement. I hope these protocols will be applied in the future and the customs structures of our countries will be connected. To do this, we shall sign the relevant protocols, which are now at the stage of preparation,” R. Hasanov adds.

According to him, the Council coordinates the activities by the ministries of transportation, economy and customs agencies of the Member States.

“As you know, the customs sector is closely related to the transport and economy as a whole. Being the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States we coordinate the activities of the ministries of transport, economy and customs structures. The main role here is played by the transportation of cargo from China to Europe and back, especially through the Trans-Caspian international transport corridor, strengthening the existing customs activities, as well as discussions to address the challenges emerging,” R. Hasanov said having noted that Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia are the key partners of Europe and Asia within this transport corridor.

The Turkic Council was created in October 2009 in Nakhchivan. Members of the council are Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.