The Customs Administration Director General, Gent Gazheli, in his remarks, said that customs are the first gateway to the European integration process, and therefore the harmonization of customs procedures with those of the single European market is very crucial.

“The policymakers and law enforcement agencies intend to build a pro-trade and competitive national economy while maintaining the right balance between revenue collection and border control by ensuring a pro-trade environment and transparent procedures and increased cooperation with other public agencies (Police, NFA, Phytosanitary control structures), the private sector, the customs administrations of the region and the European Union, in particular the customs in the border countries of the EU such as Italy, Greece and in the region such as Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia,” said Gazheli.

According to him, the harmonization of customs procedures, even with the support of CEFTA/EU, GIZ, the World Bank, HRMC, etc. has enabled significant improvements in cross-border cooperation between customs administrations and other law enforcement authorities.

“It goes without saying that the facilitation of trade activities has a positive impact on the economy when the procedures are implemented efficiently and effectively. Facilitating customs procedures for imports, exports and transits of goods has multi-faceted benefits for increasing trade volumes while reducing excessive bureaucracy and costly delays for business as well as administrative costs on the border.

The example of the “One Stop Shop” between Albania and Kosovo, Montenegro and in July 2023 also with North Macedonia, are concrete examples of how customs, police, food control and phytosanitary requirements controls have cut the time by half and reduced costs for trade between the countries of the region”, he said.
He informed that from June 2022, Albania has zeroed the fees for performing services administered by the customs authorities for economic operators with goods originating from Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.
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