EU to aid development of Customs Laboratory of Serbia – Declaration fraud to stop

The EU-sponsored project, worth EUR 250,000, meant for the modernization of the Customs Laboratory of Serbia, was presented on Friday, September 29, 2017, at the Customs Administration.

The project, which will last until the end of the year, will entail an intensive exchange of experiences with experts from the Department of Customs and Excise Taxes of the Sub-Directorate General of Chemical-Technological Matters of the Spanish Tax Agency, which will contribute to the development of the capacities of the Customs Laboratory of Serbia.

Consultants from Spain will work together with Serbian experts in the coming period, transferring their knowledge of the procedures that have proven to be the most efficient in their labs.

This should make the Customs Laboratory of Serbia more prepared to perform its increasingly more complex duty of control in the field of international trade.

The role of customs labs in the field of international trade has developed over time and they now play the main role in discovering frauds based on false declarations of the contents or the origin of goods, the Customs Administration of Serbia says.

The analyses conducted in customs labs serve to determine the authenticity and the true origin of products, to discover illegal import (i.e. narcotics and ingredients thereof), to protect consumers from hazardous products and infected food and to preserve the environment and endangered species.

The initial gathering on the occasion of the formal start of the project, called “Creating the conditions for strengthening the capacities of the Customs Laboratory of Serbia”, was attended by representatives of the Customs Administration of Serbia, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, the Spanish Tax Agency, as the main partner on the project, and the EU Delegation to Serbia, as the donor of the assets from the pre-access EU funds.

Uprava Carina Beograd

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

Customs Laboratory of Serbia

Department of Customs and Excise Taxes of the Sub Directorate General of Chemical Technological Matters of the Spanish Tax Agency

Spanish Tax Agency

authentication of products

determining the origin of products

discovering illegal import

EU Delegation to Serbia

international trade

declaration fraud