First project in modernization of national Customs Laboratory completed

The Customs Administration of Serbia announced on December 11 that it had completed the first project in the modernization of the national Customs Laboratory, worth EUR 250,000, which will aid complex control procedures in international trade. The press release says that the project was supported by the EU and that it involved help by experts from the Department of Customs and Excise Taxes of the Sub-Directorate General of Chemical-Technological Matters of the Spanish Tax Agency.

– Attempts of fraud in international trade, individuals getting rich by taking advantage of the state and jeopardizing health of the citizens is something we will not allow for sure – announced assistant director at the Sector for Tariff Affairs of the Customs Administration of Serbia, Sara Srdic.

She clarified that the Customs Administration needed a modern lab in order to be able to perform complex analyses and control merchandize samples so as to keep the state’s interests a priority.

The press release says that customs labs today play the main role in discovering fraud based on false declaration of the contents or the origin of goods in international trade.

It is added that analyses performed in such labs discover potential import misuse and protect the state budget and the safety of citizens as end users.

The Customs Administration says that a modernized national customs lab will enable budget savings to be made in the long term, as the majority of the necessary, but expensive, analyses are currently performed in external labs instead of the customs lab.

At the same time, due to the special features a customs lab needs to have regarding required techniques and methods of analyses, many tests cannot be performed at the existing labs and institutions in the country. The modernization of the Customs Laboratory is expected to contribute considerably not just to a better and more efficient collection customs and related charges, but to the protection of consumer health and the environment, and will also be able to meet all the requirements in line with the EU standards.

The ceremony organized to mark the completion of the project called “Creating Conditions for Strengthening of Capacities of the Customs Laboratory of Serbia” was attended by representatives of the Customs Administration of Serbia, the Ministry of Finance of Serbia, the Spanish Tax Agency, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain and the EU Delegation to Serbia.

Uprava Carina Beograd

Customs Laboratory

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

Sector for Tariff Affairs of the Customs Administration of Serbia

Sara Srdic

import to Serbia

export from Serbia

international trade

foreign trade