The Customs Administration is facing big changes upon Croatia's EU entry on 1 July, as Croatia's Customs service will become part of a unified EU customs service and along with a new organisation, this state agency will be faced with new tasks, notably in supervision, Croatian Assistant Finance Minister and head of the Customs Administration Zlatko Grabar said on Tuesday.
Apart from classic ways to combat smuggling, customs officers will be more engaged in the field and supervise unregistered activities, prevent all forms of illegal trade, monitor import and exports, cross-border trade and other movements, waste managements, trade in fish and other sea food, supervising general safety of products, etc.
The Finance Ministry on Tuesday presented a new organisation of the Customs Administration, based on a draft bill on customs service.
Upon Croatia's EU entry, customs border procedures towards the EU will not longer be in effect which means that 74 border crossings with Slovenia and Hungary will be shut down.
A total of 521 customs officers work at those 74 border crossings and for the past year the government has been intensively working on employing them with other government agencies and ministries. So far, 130 customs officers have been transferred and another 130-140 officers will be given new jobs in the ministries of the interior, the judiciary, maritime affairs, the Tax Administration or State Inspectorate in the near future.
Under the new organisation, the number of customs outposts will be downsized from 211 to 33.
