The 81st meeting of the Council of heads of CIS member customs services was held in Dushanbe under FCS Director Valery Pikalev. Source: FCS Russia.
Delegations from Russia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, together with representatives of Turkmenistan and the CIS Executive Committee, addressed a joint agenda. The Russian customs chief thanked the hosts and noted that Tajikistan holds the CIS chairmanship in 2025.
Pikalev said holding the session in the republic aligns with the Commonwealth’s active political calendar and shows the services’ readiness to work together on tasks set by national leadership.
Members signed an Agreement on a Centre for Expertise and Research to harmonise approaches and coordinate customs expert work. The Centre status will be granted to the customs body authorised under each country’s law to conduct such examinations.
Sixteen items were on the agenda, including classification of certain goods, control of temporarily imported freight containers, identification of hybrid passenger cars and approval of next year’s work plan.
After the plenary session, within Russian–Belarusian customs cooperation, Union State Customs Committee resolutions were signed on developing common risk profiles and on an information-exchange plan between the interstate centre and the customs services of both countries.
Valery Pikalev was re-elected Council chair for one year; the next CIS customs chiefs meeting will take place in Kazakhstan.
