The Advisory Council Form of Cooperation and Partnership between Customs and Business

1. The Advisory Council Form of Cooperation and Partnership between Customs and Business 13th June 2015, Skopje

2. Establishing • 30 January 2009 • Memorandum of Cooperation and Partnership • Memorandum for establishing an Advisory Council • Forum and a manner for establishing and enhancement of the mutual cooperation and partner relations

3. Members • Customs administration • Economic Chamber of Macedonia • Macedonian Chambers of Commerce • Economic Chamber of North-Western Macedonia • Association of Macedonian Enterprises for Road International Transport “Makedonija Soobrakaj” (A.M.E.R.I.T) • Economic Chamber's Freight Forwarders Group • American Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia • Textile Trade Association-Textile cluster • MASIT - ICT Chamber of Commerce • Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia • Macedonian – Bulgarian chamber of commerce • The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry • Macedonian – Turkish Chamber of commerce

4. Basic Principles • Promoting partnership between the Customs Administration and the business community • Ensuring high level of trade security and facilitation • Modernization of the customs procedures • Training and education activities

5. Main Duties • Consideration and reviewing of relevant issues and problems in the customs domain • Proposing measures for overcoming and resolving the problems • Helping in preparation of new customs and administrative regulations

6. Manners of cooperation – Goals of the Advisory Council • Exchange of information among the members • Cooperation to determine the customs policy • Training on customs policy and education of the participants • Cooperation and partnership in projects and initiatives for the purpose of facilitating trade and transportation • Decision making and reaching conclusions

7. Activities of the Advisory Council • Review of current issues and problems in the scope of customs operations • Proposing measures to overcome open issues and problems

8. Providing opinions in the process of preparation of acts and administrative regulations • Review of the proposed amendments to the Customs Law, the Law on customs tariffs and other Laws • Review of the proposed amendments to the By-laws and Rulebooks • Review of the proposed internal operational instructions of the Customs Administration

9. Resultsachieved • A total conclusions reached with a high level of realization Trainings conducted for the customs officers: • - TIR certificates • - CEMT licenses • - CMR • - Law on road traffic • - Professional standards of the World • Customs Organization - Strategy and training for the customs officers

10. Resultsachieved • Workshops and presentations held for the business community: • - Implementation of the one-stop shop system EXIM • - CEMT licenses • - TIR certificates • Continuous promotion of the facilitations in the conducting of the customs regulations for the business community

11. Ongoing and planned activities • Organization of meetings and cooperation with the business community at the regional level • Organizing trainings for all the participants in the customs operations • Intensifying the application of simplified procedures • Undertaking initiatives with the purpose of elimination of non-tariff barriers in the pre-customs procedure

12. Awarding Certificates of Gratitude to the members of the Advisory Council by the World Customs Organizations

13. Thank you for your attention