OREANDA-NEWS. April 23, 2010. the first ever meeting of the leaders of the customs services of Russia and Thailand devoted to the development of cooperation took place at the Russian FCS.

The Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Head of the Russian FCS Sergey Shokhin, the one of Thailand – by Director General of the Main Customs Authority of Thailand Somchai Sujjaponse.

The parties expressed readiness to the speedy signing of an intergovernmental Agreement on customs cooperation between Russia and Thailand, whose first project was submitted to the Thai party in November 2009.

The Agreement will be a firm basis of the development of customs cooperation between Russia and Thailand in all spheres of customs affairs. Special attention is suggested to be paid to:

- the creation of conditions for increasing effectiveness of customs control;
- the facilitation of customs procedures for law-abiding participants of the foreign trade activity;
- the cooperation in staff training;
- customs information exchange.

The parties also discussed projects of interdepartmental protocols on information exchange, cooperation in the field of customs value as well as of a memorandum on statistic data exchange.

Head of the Main Customs Authority of Thailand invited the delegation of the Russian FCS to visit Thailand for getting acquainted with the practice of Thai customs authorities in customs clearance and control over goods.

Besides, during their three-day visit Thai customs officers visited the Central Customs Authority and the Russian Customs Academy, where they saw the cutting-edge technologies of customs clearance and staff training.

The Main Customs Authority of Thailand is the structural subdivision of the Ministry of Finance.