EU, Western Balkans combat fraud and illegal trafficking, strengthen legal trade

TIRANA, April 4 – On 4th April 2008 the European Union Project TACTA (Technical Assistance to Customs and Tax Administrations) was officially introduced.
The Project is led by the Italian Customs Agency and is targeted at the five countries of the Western Balkan Area – Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.
The TACTA Project, which is wholly funded by the EU to the amount of 7.1 million Euros, will help achieve a step-by-step modernization of organizational structures and operational procedures in line with EU standards as well as developing new strategies against fraud and illegal trafficking.
The meeting in Tirana was attended by the five Beneficiary Administrations, the European Commission and local and foreign Authorities.
The TACTA Project was awarded by European tender to the public-private Consortium known as “ITACA” (International Technical Assistance for Customs and Tax Administrations) which was promoted by the Italian Customs Agency. On the public side, the partners in the ITACA Consortium, apart from the Italian Customs Agency, are the Italian Revenue Agency, the Finnish Customs (Tull-Customs, FIN) and Second University of Naples – Faculty of Political Studies for European and Mediterranean High Education. On the private side, the partners in the Consortium are: Sviluppo Globale GEIE (IT), Tonucci & Partners Law Firm (IT) and DMI-Associates (FR).
Assistance actions will be led by an international Team of about 70 experts who will be coordinated by Team Leaders established in each Beneficiary Country.
The TACTA Project started with a preliminary stage on 1st February this year and will follow in the footsteps of the former CAFAO Programme (Customs And Fiscal Assistance Office Programme) that was launched in 1996 and most recently managed by Eurocustoms.