Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24
By Sara Israfilbayova – Trend:
State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan is considering possibly introducing blockchain technologies in its work, Safar Mehdiyev, Chairman of the Committee, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
According to Mehdiyev, the SCC holds international conferences in order to study the most advanced experience in the application of innovative technologies in the customs system, as well as identifying and further developing academic research.
“Customs experts and specialists from some of the most important specialized universities and educational institutions are invited to such conferences. These events allow studying international trends, along with analyzing and evaluating new approaches, including blockchain technology,” said the chairman.
The implementation of blockchain technology in the customs field is being actively studied in the US, the UK, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, Mehdiyev added.
The chairman noted that the SCC regularly studies various technologies and innovative solutions and applies them during the procedures of customs control and clearance as part of cooperation with other governmental agencies and the business community.
“It should be noted that the introduction of new technologies not in the form of “separate experiments”, but comprehensively, in the format of specific innovative projects, is one of the key principles of project management in any sphere, including customs. From this point of view, the implementation of new technologies in the customs system should have specific goals and be consistent with the latest projects", Mehdiyev added.
The use of the blockchain technology, Mehdiyev continued, is now being tested by the private sector as part of trade and supply chain management, including in trade-related banking operations (e.g. opening letters of credit) and logistics.
When it comes to the advantages of the blockchain technology, this, first of all, consists of the optimization of costs and resources due to the distributed database and cryptographic solutions, along with ensuring transparency, as the chairman pointed out.
Mehdiyev noted that the introduction of the blockchain in the customs sphere was also discussed back in April 2017 at one of the sessions of the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC) of the World Customs Organization.
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