Skopje, 20 October 2022 (MIA) – Explanatory meetings on Cluster 3 – Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth continue in Brussels, with Chapter 29 – Customs Union on Thursday’s agenda. Deputy PM for European Affairs and Chief Negotiator with the EU, Bojan Marichikj, highlighted the importance of integration in the EU Customs Union for the Government, the companies and the citizens, noting North Macedonia’s good level of readiness in this field, the Secretariat for European Affairs said in a press release. “In recent years, we have worked on harmonizing our national legislation with the EU law but also strengthening the operational and technical capacity of the Customs Administration. We are pleased to see the latest EC Report acknowledging this,” said Deputy PM Marichikj, who was accompanied at the meeting by Customs Administration Director Slavica Kutirov. Marichikj said a revolutionary step in the customs operations has been digitization and e-customs, i.e. implementation of the new system for customs declarations and excise processing, fully aligned with international standards for data exchange and EU regulations in the area. On the customs legislation, the Deputy PM said there are ongoing efforts for harmonization of the new Customs Code with the Union Customs Code, accompanied by the adoption of a new ICT Development Strategy 2021-2025 and an action plan for interconnection and interoperability with EU systems. On trade facilitation, Marichikj said the concept of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) has been implemented, with 23 companies getting the AEO status. He also mentioned the newly-built customs terminals at the main border crossing with Serbia and Albania and the ‘one-stop-shop’ concept. The explanatory screening on Cluster 3 ends on Friday with the meetings on Chapter 16 – Taxation and Chapter 25 – Science and Research.