OSCE Office completes five-year project assistance to Tajik Customs Service in Murgab of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province

DUSHANBE, October 17, 2013 - A five-year project supporting the Tajik Customs Service in the district of Murgab of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province (GBAO) of Tajikistan was completed today at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

The two phase project, commencing in 2008, focused on training staff of national authorities in GBAO in the use of modern technical equipment to detect pre-cursor chemicals that may be used in drugs production. Under the project, more than 120 Tajik and Afghan customs officers, 10% of whom were women, were also trained on drug detection and search techniques and profiling/risk management, and specialised equipment and vehicles were given to Murgab Customs Facility.

Given ever increasing cargo traffic from China through GBAO to other parts of Tajikistan, a new self-sustaining modular terminal with enhanced inspection capacities was constructed in October 2013 under the project, at the request of the Tajik Customs Service. The new facility staffed by OSCE-trained officers should provide a major deterrent to potential smuggling and criminal activity in the area. Today’s ceremony marked handing over the facility to the Tajik authorities.

The project with the budget of almost one million euros was funded by donations from Japan, Germany, Belgium and Norway.