During this meeting, Gazheli informed the entrepreneurs about the innovations made by the Customs Administration, which are already tangible and sensitive for businesses.

The growth of exports and imports during these first months of the year is already a measurable indicator that the economy and businesses themselves are recovering, after the two crises we went through like the November 26 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite a challenging year from the pandemic, the Customs Administration has been in service 24 hours in 7 business days, in order to facilitate exports and imports, making maximum efforts in its control functions, ensuring equal treatment, protection of competition and the facilitation of foreign trade”, stressed Gazheli.

There are always aspects to improve on, he added, hence we meet directly with businesses.

Meanwhile, Gazheli also informed about the benefits that the business has from obtaining the “Authorized Economic Operator” certificate.

“It is a status issued to ‘trusted traders’ who can benefit from many customs simplifications,” he said.

According to him, OEA is a security certificate for fast customs services to facilitate, not only the free movement of goods in economic and temporary terms, but also increasing the prestige of the respective customs administrations in the service of business.

This meeting follows a series of meetings that the head of Customs Gazheli, together with Minister of Finance and Economy Anila Denaj, have held in different cities of the country.

This is an indicator of the government’s attention to the customs authorities, Gazheli said, so only in recent months, ‘we have granted 4 certificates to the EEA while there are in the process 5 other applications’.

Business representatives appreciated this direct communication with the customs authorities and welcomed invitation of the Head of Customs, to apply for the OEA status, for those enterprises that meet the technical and financial conditions to obtain this status./p.s./