Duration of assignment (months): 9 months
Narrative description of Project:
The Government of Armenia identifies export promotion as one of the main drivers of its economic growth strategy for the next decade. In this regard, the tax and customs administration play a critical role. Therefore, further strengthening of the customs and tax administration remains an important objective of the Government which will result in an increase in revenues and a reduction of the shadow economy by contributing to overall improvement of country’s business and investment environment.
The objective of the project contributes to facilitating a comprehensive assessment of the capacity of the customs administration of the State Revenue Committee. It, among others, assesses the effectiveness of ongoing reforms and identifies further development needs that are required to enhance the customs administration’s operational and administrative capacity/efficiency.
Within the project Ameria with its partner, BDO Armenia, developed a methodology for the assessment of operational and administrative capacities of the customs service in line with international best practices. Considering that the most comprehensive framework for implementing customs assessment was developed by the European Commission, the 2015 edition of customs blueprints was used to develop the methodology. Additionally the first ever assessment of operational and administrative capacities of the customs service was conducted using the developed methodology. The assessment covered twenty areas of customs administration, including llegislation, organization and management, HRM, customs ethics, training, communication strategy, trade facilitation, risk management, border and inland control, post-clearance control, ICT, excise tax administration, etc. During the assessment the comparative analysis of the European Customs Blueprints at local and Eurasian Economic Unions legislation levels were conducted. Based on the assessment a set of actionable recommendations for strengthening the institutional and organizational framework of the customs service were developed. This included a detailed report on specific and targeted improvements and a step-by-step Action Plan for implementing reforms. It also included recommendations for the Government on the regulations under the authority of the Eurasian Economic Commission. At the end of the assignment capacity-building workshop was organised for the 20 customs officials to enhance knowledge and upgrade the skills to meet international best practice.