TIRANA, March 29 /ATA/ – French government will continue to assist Albania’s Customs Administration to improve the accountability, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency of customs.
The Director General of the Customs Administration, Belinda Ikonomi, met with Admiral Patrick Augier, the Deputy Secretary General to the Secretariat for the Sea at the French Prime Minister’s cabinet.
During the meeting, Ikonomi and Augier agreed that strengthening cooperation, especially in terms of information exchange and sharing, would have significant impact on the security of both countries.
Ikonomi informed the French Admiral on structure and objectives of the Albanian Customs Administration, already involved in various operations, apart from collecting tariffs and controlling the flow of goods.
“Attention has now been placed on the security issues and exchange of information between our countries, which is a very important task for the customs administration,” Ikonomi said.
Albania occupies a strategic position in the Mediterranean, Admiral Augier said as he commended the Albanian Customs Administration for its performance.
“Although Albania is not yet a member state of the European Union, we will seek to include Albanian Customs Administration in the information exchange as part of a specific structure of the European Border and Coast Guard, which will be tasked with efforts to prevent illegal immigration and illicit trafficking,” he said.
The French Admiral also pledged support for the Albanian Customs Administration to build new ports and customs coordination systems.
Pointing to the system’s experience in Marseille, Augier said: “Implementation of this system would allow for the risk assessment for containers and various goods to be carried out before arriving in the customs points.”
During his visit to our country, French Admiral Patrick Augier visited the Inter-institutional Maritime Operational Centre and the Albanian Naval Forces.
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