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US Customs Service sends consultant to Constanta Port
The Romanian Customs Authority will benefit, in the Constanta Port, from the support of a representative of the United States Customs and Border Protection CBP) Service in the field of risk analysis and customs control, according to a press release sent on Tuesday.
At the same time, a delegation of the Romanian Customs Authority will participate, in the United States of America, as part of the International Visitors Program (IVP), in CBP operations, in order to exchange experience and learn about the working methods used by CBP for better control on goods and persons entering the US.
Thus, the president of the Romanian Customs Authority, Ion Cupa, had a meeting with CBP representatives on Monday, November 27, 2023.
"The meeting was mediated by the Regional Office of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) within the Embassy of the United States of America in Romania. The discussions focused on the coordination of future projects (2023-2026) regarding the mutual exchange of best practices and the increase of security measures in the field of customs operations," the same press release states.
The Constanta Port is the main entry and exit gate for goods in and out of Romania. Last year, the port authorities reported a record traffic volume of 75.550 million tonnes compared to 67.483 million tonnes the previous year, with the year 2022 marking the maximum traffic volume operated by the Port of Constanta in its history.
"As part of a cooperation determined by recent world events and overlapping missions in the Balkan regions, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have collaboratively undertaken to develop an assessment and development strategy to enhance border security capabilities within allied nations. The first step in this endeavour was to conduct an assessment of Romania's land and sea borders to identify capabilities and challenges with the operational environment," the same source explains.
Thus, in October 2022, a team led by the programme manager of DTRA from the Embassy of the United States of America in Romania and the regional attache of CBP from the Embassy of the United States of America in Bulgaria conducted several study visits in the field of border security to Border Customs Offices in Constanta, Giugiulesti, Albita and Siret.
As a result of the respective study visits, a plan of measures was developed aimed at improving the development and management of risk criteria, the modernisation and digitisation of customs controls, the expansion of the capacities to proactively fight corruption, as well as the investment in the professional training of the employees of the Romanian Customs Authority.