National Customs Agency

The Director General of the National Customs Agency Pavel Tonev met with András Bartha – Head of the Customs Eastern and Southeastern Land Border Expert Team (CELBET). The meeting took place on 29.03.2022 in the Central Customs Directorate and was part of the series of talks of the Head of CELBET with the directors general of the customs administrations of the 11 CELBET Member States. 
András Bartha presented the many successful activities, implemented within the project, which will be continued and enriched in the future, as well as he announced the ideas on CELBET development during the next 2023-2027 programming period. The cash control is expected to be one of the main highlights in CELBET work as the aim is to improve the cooperation and exchange of good practices among the Member States – he pointed out in respect to the record-high results in the counteraction to currency offences, implemented in 2021 by the National Customs Agency. 
CELBET is a group for cooperation, and what we need in the EU is practical cooperation, explained in addition the head of the customs expert team and underlined that the Bulgarian customs officers are the best in the area of detection of customs offences among all countries involved in CELBET, which is proved by the high results in the drug substances seized. 
The Director General of the National Customs Agency in his turn underlined the importance of the trainings, carried out by CELBET, as well as the role which the project could have in the exchange of information and good practices for the application of the customs prohibitions and restrictions, the physical control procedures, as well as in the organization of the work of the customs points. ‘I believe in the success of CELBET’, declared the Director General of the National Customs Agency and directed an invitation till the end of the year the Bulgarian Customs Administration to host two events – meeting of the expert team of the border-crossing points network, as well as specialized training in English language on the terminology in the area of customs control. 
During the meeting it became also clear that the trainings, developed by CELBET and the new initiative for short-term exchange ‘Missions of CELBET” are evaluated as extremely useful by the customs officers involved. 
In the meeting participated also Pille Jögisoo, grant coordinator under CELBET, the Deputy Director General of the National Customs Agency Rumen Danev, as well as the Bulgarian team, involved in the project. 
Besides Bulgaria, in the Customs Eastern and Southeastern Land Border Expert Team of EU (CELBET) participate also Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece, Romania and Croatia.