Maximum commitment of Albanian Customs Administration on dual-use goods control

The General Director of Customs, Mrs. Belinda IKONOMI, complimented the Regional Meeting on “The Program for the Export Control of Dual-Use Goods" held in Tirana and supported by the European Union.

The focus of this meeting was exchange of best practices and legislation of the participating countries, such as Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia with the ultimate goal of establishing a more efficient control system on non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons.

At her speech, the General Director of Customs said that Albania welcomes such activities where always are offered opportunities for exchanging best experiences which later on they will help to overcome the challenges.

Moreover, Mrs. IKONOMI ensured the maximum commitment of Albanian Customs Administration not only at this stage of training for the identification of dual-use goods, but particularly in the application of such knowledge in their daily work in Customs what is closely related to increase security and consumer protection.

Considering that the Customs Administration is one of the key structures on export controls, the General Director of Customs informed that Customs in cooperation with the Licensing Authority (AKSHE) conduct joint inspections at Customs points and they communicate regularly to improve the control system. Also, Customs has developed risk profiles of dual-use goods and it continues to improve these practices.

As Mrs. IKONOMI expressed gratitude for the given support to the European Union representative, Mr. Eric MARTIN and to the Regional Coordinator Mr. Matjaz MUROVEC, she underlined that Albania, as a member of NATO and aspirant for membership in the European Union, is fully committed to respect the principles of EU during the shipment of these goods and the obligations arising from the membership in International Agreements regarding non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.