On 16-17 October, the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova jointly with the EU High Level Advisers’ Mission hosted the 27th Meeting of the National Contact Points of the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Central Europe (RILO ECE).
The large-scale event brought together representatives of the RILO ECE network from the Republic of Moldova, Albania, Croatia, Estonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Georgia, Poland, Greece, RILO West-East networks, RILO for Asia and the Pacific, RILO for Eastern and Southern Africa. The event was also attended by representatives from the World Customs Organization, the EU High Level Advisers’ Mission, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC), the Universal Postal Union, the EUBAM Mission, EUPM Moldova, FRONTEX and partners from the private sector.
The purpose of the event reflects the importance of strengthening the RILO ECE network in its complex mission to support the member administrations of the World Customs Organization, by providing operational support, facilitating mutual administrative assistance, and promoting regional cooperation with other law enforcement agencies and authorities.
The agenda of the meeting included topical subjects regarding administrative assistance in the customs field, the most significant achievements in the current year, as well as the establishment of cooperation priorities for the future.
During two days, the meeting served as a platform for discussions between the delegates of the RILOs member states, enabling the exchange of experience and best practices in the law enforcement field, with an emphasis on trends in smuggling, interoperability, and recommendations for improving the mechanisms used by RILO ECE in preventing and combating cross-border crime and facilitating legitimate trade.
Special attention was paid to new developments in IT tools, to facilitate real-time information exchange, data visualization, as well as the development of digital solutions for customs authorities on data collection, analysis and management in the anti-fraud sector.
The participants reiterated the importance of mutual administrative cooperation in the customs field, both regionally and internationally, under the auspices of the World Customs Organization, through data and information exchanges, cooperation and support within the joint operations carried out aimed at preventing and combating customs offenses and the smuggling phenomenon.
Note: The Republic of Moldova hosts for the second time this large-scale event (the first RILO ECE event was organised in October 2007).