Chisinau-Tiraspol customs dialogue resumes in Odessa

A tri-lateral experts meeting that brought together customs and railway representatives from Chisinau and Tiraspol at EUBAM headquarters in Odessa in order to explore the prospect of a full resumption of rail freight traffic through Transnistria completed its work on Friday, 11 November.

The meeting, convened following positive responses to EUBAM’s technical proposals paper drafted earlier this year, marked the first time Chisinau and Tiraspol customs have engaged in official dialogue since late 2001. They had previously enjoyed a cooperative working relationship from 1996-2001.

The meeting last Friday also considered other areas of customs co-operation between Chisinau and Tiraspol that might be developed.

Participants from both sides expressed gratitude to EUBAM for bringing the two customs bodies together for full negotiation – the second time they had gathered around the same table in recent weeks, after their participation in a working group at the OSCE/German Federal Foreign Office conference held in Germany on 7-9 September, which was considered a very important step in the confidence-building process in general and as a move towards the settlement of customs issues in particular.

The technical discussions were thought to have been constructive and enabled both sides to take stock of their views and concerns. They centered on issues such as a technological scheme for the running of rail freight operations, EUBAM’s technical proposals, recognition of customs stamps, and other cooperation mechanisms.

One of the main items to emerge from discussions was a Chisinau proposal to establish a working group to develop a technological scheme on the customs control of freight trains, with EUBAM as technical adviser and mediator. Additionally, Tiraspol will develop a technical proposal on the customs control over the export of goods by railways through Transnistria, which will be shared with EUBAM and Chisinau in advance of the next meeting.

Both Chisinau and Tiraspol representatives have agreed to continue the dialogue in the existing format (EUBAM-Chisinau-Tiraspol customs experts).