Fourth CAREC Customs Cooperation Committee Meeting

The Fourth Meeting of the Customs Cooperation Committee (CCC) was convened on 7-9 September 2005 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to review the progress and give guidance on priorities and future direction of the CAREC’s Trade Facilitation Program.

The Meeting focused on

• deliberation on the priority areas of the CAREC’s Trade Facilitation Program, and
• discussion on the strategy to broaden the Trade Facilitation agenda.

Background and Objectives

The Customs Cooperation Committee (CCC) consists of the heads/deputy heads of customs administrations joining the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program supported by ADB.

The CCC provides overall coordination and supervision to the CAREC’s Trade Facilitation Program to promote customs reforms and modernization as a medium-term priority. The CCC has also been serving as a forum to promote an integrated trade facilitation approach through inter-agency cooperation and partnership with the business community. The CCC convenes the meeting each year.

The previous CCC Meetings were held in Urumqi, People’s Republic of China (PRC) on 20-21 August 2002; Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan on 9-10 October 2003; and in Baku, Azerbaijan on 1-3 December 2004.