Finance Minister highlights EU approximation, new technology use in customs office projects

Approximation of Georgian customs authorities with European Union conventions, use of new computerised transit systems and artificial intelligence were highlighted by Georgia’s Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili in comments on upcoming projects for the country’s customs service on Thursday.

Making the remark at an event for International Customs Day, the Minister noted the accession of domestic structures to the EU conventions for transit and the launch of the new systems would activate “another effective platform” this year for the country’s economic integration in the EU.

[This] will become a catalyst for significant investments in the road transport sector of Georgia", he pointed out.

Khutsishvili also stressed protection of intellectual property and praised the recently introduced status of authorised economic operators in the country. The latter involves authorisation for simplifying procedures of goods clearing and customs control on the basis of compliance with safety and security requirements.

Photo: Ministry of Finance

At this stage, two companies have received the mentioned status. In order to speed up this process, it is necessary to sign agreements on mutual recognition of authorised economic operators - first of all, with the European Union", he said.

In comments about recent initiatives introduced in the customs structures, the official noted the introduction of the requirement of digital form submission, instead of physical paperwork, had played a "positive role" in ensuring readiness of Georgian authorities for implementation of customs formalities during the pandemic period.

This led to the smooth implementation of customs procedures during the pandemic. This was only the beginning of the modernisation road that leads to digitalisation. Now it is necessary to replace business processes as much as possible with automated processes, obviously using artificial intelligence", Khutsishvili said.

The Minister also presented the first Digital Customs Officer for the domestic structures, and noted he hoped the system would "successfully cope with assigned tasks".

Photo: Ministry of Finance

In other comments on the international date, Khutsishvili spoke about the importance of the Middle Corridor, the logistics and supply route between Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia that has grown in significance since the outbreak of the conflict and search for alternative connections between the regions. 

He said while updated formalities for customs procedures had been adopted at Georgia’s border checkpoints, ensuring the “capacity, flexibility and predictability of the Middle Corridor as a whole” was required for global supply chains.

“For this, it is necessary to introduce the principle of one-stop border crossings between [our] partner countries - [t]hese are Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia", Khutsishvili noted, adding there was "full political readiness" for the plan.