Improving the Border Agency Cooperation
Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade
61
Country initiatives
There are a number of country-specific initiatives within the Asian Region. In the following
examples from seven countries: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakstan, Kyrgyz Republic and
Pakistan will be presented. Furthermore, in Chapter 4 of this report, a full case study on
Malaysia is presented. Also our non-OIC case study on Vietnam and Laos (Chapter 2) is
relevant for the region.
BAC in Afghanistan: Joint benefits for taking control of the border
Since December 2010, Afghanistan has been working with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to regain
control over its Northern border. Border control authorities in the three countries have
cooperated to fight drug trafficking and facilitate regional trade and travel across the Northern
Afghan border. Afghan Border Police and Afghan Customs Department and their counterparts in
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the main stakeholders in the project that fosters international and
inter-agency communication and coordination.
Training plays a central role in this collaboration: officers at the Afghan Border Police receive
regular training on driving, first aid, navigation, border formalities and other practical skills. In
the spirit of cooperation, the Tajik Border Force is also invited to participate in these trainings.
The Afghan authorities have also started to exchange customs data with the Tajik Customs
Services, and the Afghans are planning to expand this customs collaboration to its other major
trading partners as well.
There has also been substantial investment in infrastructure, equipment and ICT tools (e.g., the
installation of the Asycuda customs declaration software) at the border posts at the Northern
border. The Afghan customs reports considerable achievements in the areas of automation,
legislation, capacity development, control, infrastructure development and enforcement over the
past few years (UNDP 2016). In the long term, the cooperation is expected to build trust among
the countries and this way set a basis for further regional development. 91
BAC in Azerbaijan: Modernisation instigated by the legal framework
Azerbaijan customs has been active in the international collaboration especially in the field of
customs security. Since the accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) in 2006, Azerbaijan
has been closely collaborating with its important trading partners, Turkey and Kazakhstan, to
exchange advance information on cross-border movements of cargo and vehicles. Azerbaijan has
already signed similar agreements with Uzbekistan, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. 92 The
customs in Azerbaijan has also been working with the Ukrainian customs on the mutual
development of single window systems and other information technology that would help the
customs to fight smuggling and coordinate inspections at the borders. As a result of the customs
modernization program, today around 95% of customs activities in Azerbaijan are supported by
modern information and communication technology.93
91 Afghan Customs, 2016. accessed 7 April 2016);
UNDP, 2016. Border Management in Northern Afghanistan.
accessed 2 May
2016)
92 Azerbaijan Customs, 2015. Cooperation between customs services of Azerbaijan and Ukraine is progressing.
accessed 7 April 2016)
93 AzerNews, 2016. Azerbaijan eyes expanding customs cooperation accessed 7
April 2016)