Pakistan highlights AI-powered customs reforms, digital connectivity and regional cooperation to strengthen secure trade and border management.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Customs has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening regional customs cooperation and advancing secure, technology-driven trade facilitation by participating in the 11th Policy-Level Meeting of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)–World Customs Organization (WCO) Passenger and Cargo Control Programme (PCCP/IREN) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The Pakistani delegation was led by Syed Shakeel Shah, Member Customs (Operations), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and included Muhammad Imran Khan Mohmand, Director General Reforms & Automation, Pakistan Customs.
Focus on regional cooperation and digital customs
The high-level meeting brought together senior customs officials from across the region to discuss measures aimed at strengthening customs cooperation through secure, seamless and technology-enabled trade.
Delegates focused on several strategic priorities, including:
• Mutual recognition of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programmes.
• Recognition of regulatory documents among participating countries.
• Wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled risk management and data analytics for customs clearance and enforcement.
• Strengthening public-private partnerships to facilitate legitimate trade while combating illicit cross-border activities.
Participating customs administrations agreed to establish dedicated technical working groups to develop draft protocols in these priority areas. The initiative is expected to promote greater digital integration, enhance regulatory cooperation and improve the efficiency of regional trade and transit.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan deepen customs collaboration
On the sidelines of the conference, the Pakistani delegation held a bilateral meeting with the First Deputy Chairman of the Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan to review progress under existing customs cooperation arrangements.
The two sides discussed expanding collaboration in several strategic areas, including:
• National Targeting Centres.
• Transit cargo tracking.
• AI and machine learning-based risk management.
• Customs digitalisation.
• Intelligence-led enforcement.
• Enhanced exchange of customs information.
During the meeting, Syed Shakeel Shah highlighted that Uzbekistan is the first country with which Pakistan has established advance customs information exchange through the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) for both imports and exports, describing the initiative as a significant milestone in digital customs cooperation.
Building on this achievement, both countries agreed to explore extending the existing digital connectivity to include transit trade information. The proposed initiative is expected to improve the quality and timeliness of customs data exchange, strengthen border controls, reduce customs clearance times and facilitate faster, more secure and seamless regional trade and transit.
Commitment to modern customs administration
Pakistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their shared commitment to expanding bilateral customs cooperation through enhanced digital connectivity, coordinated border management, exchange of best practices and adoption of modern customs technologies.
According to Pakistan Customs, these initiatives will strengthen supply chain security, facilitate legitimate trade and support broader regional economic integration.
Pakistan Customs also reiterated its commitment to leveraging innovation, digital transformation and international cooperation to build a modern customs administration capable of enhancing trade competitiveness while maintaining effective enforcement and robust border security.