AKIPRESS.COM - Some 70 officials from central and local customs authorities in Kazakhstan and members of the Chamber of Commerce and business community were trained on a system which allows entities to temporarily import goods into a country during a workshop supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana on March 2-3.

The workshop focused on the practical implementation of Istanbul’s 1990 Convention on temporary release of goods and application of the Carnet ATA (Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission) system. This system will be particularly relevant for groups participating in the Expo 2017 in Astana from June through to early September 2017. More than 100 countries and ten international organizations are taking part in the preparations for the event.

The workshop was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in close partnership with the Training Centre of the State Revenues Committee of Kazakhstan’s Finance Ministry and Kazakhstan’s Chamber of Commerce.

Participants reviewed the practical benefits of applying the Carnet ATA system worldwide and discussed the challenges of enforcement in Kazakhstan. Invited international experts from the customs administration and the Chambers of Commerce of Belarus and Russia discussed their experiences of enforcing the Carnet ATA system in their countries and pointed to possible challenges in operations. Discussions also focused on proper customs admission and documentation filing for temporarily imported goods.

The workshop is part of the Office’s multi-year efforts to assist the host country in promoting good governance by facilitating trade.