Informational tour for journalists
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Monday, July 7
On the 3rd of July, the Revenue Service invited representatives from the media to visit the customs crossing point “Tsiteli Khidi” and customs clearance zones “Tbilisi” and “Tbilisi 2”. During a special seminar organized for the event, representatives from the Revenue Service presented journalists with information concerning customs procedures, institutional reforms, as well as about non-tariff and SPS control measures at the border.
Head of the customs crossing point Zurab Kikalia said that reforms in the field of customs started in 2005, but the main job was done during the past few years. “I can say that our customs are meeting European standards. After signing the association agreement we will have to change very few things here. Our service is very fast and takes 5 to 10 minutes. The reason is that we work with the risk estimation system. Soon we will have a cinological center as well,” stated Kikalia.
Quality Control Manager of the Customs Clearance Department at the Georgia Revenue Service, Lily Tsverava, said that huge work is done every day. “We have a team of real professionals here, every single person has his own job and is handling it perfectly, but we all work to achieve even higher levels and strive to offer even better service to people who address us,” stated Tsverava.
Press speaker of the Revenue Service Khatia Moistsrapishvili said that despite the fact that Georgia already enjoys a high level of standards, the Revenue Service continues working to improve the system.
Public Awareness Manager at the Economic Prosperity Initiative, Tamar Kapianidze said that media representatives must be informed about everything in this field.
“It is always very important that journalist have information about the working style of the system… it affects the quality of work. This is not the first and not the last time when we are supporting informative tours for media representatives,” stated Kapianidze.
Media tours will continue to be organized in the future. A second part of the tour will be held in the Adjara region at the beginning or August. Journalists will visit the customs of Sarpi and customs clearance zones in Adlia and Poti, within 3 days.
The media event was organized with support from the Economic Prosperity Initiative (EPI) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAD).
