On 21 March a day long working meeting of customs experts from both banks of Dniester River with participation of the representatives of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) took place at the headquarters of EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine in Odessa.

The meeting, initiated by EUBAM, went in a friendly atmosphere. The delegations chaired by the heads of customs structures from Chisinau and Tiraspol discussed the possibilities of implementation of joint customs control and shared the ideas on ways of cooperation in prevention of smuggling of goods and other illegal activity.

The meeting followed up the study visit of customs experts to German-Swiss border jointly organized by EUBAM and OSCE on 11 – 14 March 2013 where participants from Chisinau and Tiraspol had a chance to visit two customs posts on the German-Swiss border and to study the joint customs procedures, take part in expert discussions, and learn about EU best practices in customs cooperation.

As part of the confidence-building process EUBAM is paying a special attention to facilitation of cooperation between customs experts from both sides of the River Dniester and providing technical advice and recommendations on this matter.