More information about customs service for media
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Tuesday, August 19
The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and the Economic Prosperity Initiative (EPI) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly organized a seminar for media on August 8-10. The Minister of Finance Nodar Khaduri attended the event.
The seminar was aimed at increasing media awareness with regard to functions and the importance of GRS as well as modern services offered to taxpayers.
In order to improve communication with media representatives, a media tour was organized within the seminar. Journalists had an opportunity to visited the Customs Clearance Zone in Poti and learn about the procedures there. They also visited a border crossing point, where they received detailed information about its activities and procedures. Participants of the seminar also got information about the GRS’s plans.
A new video clip was also released during the seminar. The video was about paying taxes.
Khaduri said that the government plans to upgrade all customs clearance zones to European standards.
“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 only a few minutes. We are working with our neighbors so that they also are able to offer a high standard of service to customers,” stated Khaduri.
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 refine the system more.
Public Awareness Manager at the EPI Tamar Kapianidze said that media representatives must be informed about all the changes and procedures that are related to customs service.
“Getting more information about the field will encourage journalists to produce more qualified work in terms of the tax system, procedures and so on,” she said.
This media trip was the second part of the project. The first part was held on July 3. Within the first part representatives from media visited the customs crossing point “Tsiteli Khidi” and customs clearance zones “Tbilisi” and “Tbilisi 2”. During the seminar, representatives from the Revenue Service provided journalists with information concerning customs procedures, institutional reforms, and also information about non-tariff and SPS control measures at the border.
