According to press service of the Southern Customs Directorate of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, the meeting was devoted to interaction during the summer holiday season 2021, performance of customs operations and customs control in relation to agricultural products and other tasks of joint activities.

There were also discussed measures to speed up the passage of customs control in connection with the annual load increase at the customs post of the Adler checkpoint.

The possibilities of accelerating the throughput of a checkpoint depend on the maximum interaction of all state regulatory bodies operating on the Russian-Abkhaz border. The greatest burden in the registration and control of individuals and vehicles annually falls on the summer months. In August (peak month), up to 1.5 million individuals and 500 thousand vehicles cross the customs border of the EAСU in Adler checkpoint.

During the working meeting, there were considered issue of interaction of all services during the passengers control traveling to and from the Republic of Abkhazia in excursion buses. Passenger traffic is carried out daily by about 200 buses on average in holiday season. Customs control of such buses during peak load hours is carried out on a priority basis at additional control lines. The parties discussed measures aimed at optimizing customs procedures during peak periods.

Particular attention was paid to preventing violations for temporary import of international transport vehicles and vehicles for personal use into the customs territory of the EAСU by non-residents of the Russian Federation.

One of the important issues of customs cooperation is the issue of accelerating registration processes and control of transported goods in the context of volume increasing of import of agricultural products from Abkhazia to Russia. In recent years, supplies of both fruit and vegetable and fruit and berry products of Abkhazian production have significantly increased. This year, a significant increase in the volume of imports of strawberries is predicted. So, if 290 kg of strawberries were imported from Abkhazia in 2018, in 2020 - 300 tons, this year it is planned to import about 800 tons. It is especially important to promptly carry out customs control of perishable goods in these conditions.

The parties discussed the possibility of obtaining information on the types and volumes of agricultural products grown in the Republic of Abkhazia, exchange of price information, as well as the possibility of recognizing the results of customs control of certain types of agricultural goods.

The Abkhaz side noted the relevance of a specialized customs authority (STO) functioning, due to the need to accelerate the clearance processes for exported goods from the republic.

During the meeting, the issue of harmonizing the procedure for processing customs documents used in trade was also discussed in detail, taking into account the need to fill them out electronically in the relevant databases and software. Currently, the exchange of documents of the FCS of Russia and the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Abkhazia in the field of customs regulation is being carried out, information on legal acts in the field of customs is provided.

The participants agreed to determine the directions for further joint work as a result of the meeting. The next international working meeting is scheduled for September this year on the territory of the Republic of Abkhazia.

From the Russian side the meeting was attended by head of the Krasnodar customs service Natalya Polosukhina, first deputy head of the customs office Vyacheslav Kitayskiy, head of the customs post of the Adler border checkpoint of Krasnodar customs office Alexey Bykov, representative of the Federal Customs Service of Russia in the Republic of Abkhazia Konstantin Kozlov, head of the Abkhazian customs post (specialized) Konstantin Balashov.

The Abkhaz delegation was represented by Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Abkhazia Sergey Gadliya, Head of the Main Department of Customs Clearance and Customs Control Dzhamal Tseiba, Head of Customs Statistics and Analysis Department Asida Kvitsinia, specialists from other departments, Head of the Psou customs post Alias ​​Khishba.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of Border Control of the FSS of Russia in Krasnodar Territory, the border detachment of the State Security Service of the Republic of Abkhazia and Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Abkhazia Dato Kadzhaya.