In this regard, a delegation led by the head of Customs Service of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay visited Uzbekistan.

In recent years, the friendship, partnership and multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and Turkey has risen to a new level.

The state visits of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh.Mirziyoyev to Turkey in the fall of 2017 and the visit of the President of Turkey R.Erdoğan in the spring of 2018 to our country also confirm our opinion.

Note that over 750 joint ventures have been established by business circles of both countries in recent years, and the volume of bilateral trade has doubled. In particular, following the results of 10 months of 2019 the volume of mutual trade made up about 1.97 billion US dollars. This is 26.9% more than in the same period of last year.

Under these circumstances, the two countries' customs services will strive to further strengthen effective cooperation and information exchange. This is exactly the purpose of establishing a joint customs council with the heads of customs services of Uzbekistan and Turkey.

On the first day of the visit, working meetings were held with experts from both countries to discuss important issues.

On November 12, 2019, the first meeting of the Joint Customs Council of the heads of customs services of Uzbekistan and Turkey was held with the participation of the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Murotjon Azimov and the Head of Customs Service of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay.

First of all, special attention is paid to strengthening the contractual base of customs services of both states.

In this regard, the Uzbek side initiated the conclusion of agreements on the organization of preliminary exchange of information on goods and vehicles between the customs services of both countries and on methodological and information cooperation in the field of statistics.

It was also noted that necessary procedures should be started on the draft international agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on the establishment of a simplified customs corridor.

At the meeting, it is also planned to cooperate in the exchange of information necessary to determine and control the customs value of goods.

The parties agreed to hold a working group meeting on cooperation in the field of customs law, to develop a plan of actions for 2020-2021, focusing on areas such as smuggling, drugs, human trafficking and other customs offenses.

Naturally, all this contributes to the further growth of bilateral trade, and also contributes to the increase in the efficiency of customs services.

It was noted at the meeting that the Customs Service of the Republic of Turkey has a rich history and many years of experience. Particular attention will be paid to effective operation of large logistics terminals at border checkpoints, large-scale introduction of information technologies in the customs sphere, the use of express transportation (courier) systems, and the sharing of Turkish experience in the field of risk management.

Turkey welcomed Uzbekistan's participation in the 8th Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States and called for the Caravanserai project to effectively implement the "One Home, One Way" initiative.

Based on the foregoing, both parties have agreed to develop a roadmap for defining priorities for cooperation in 2020 and systematizing their implementation.

During the visit, members of the delegation, led by Riza Tuna Turagay, got acquainted with the activities of Department of Customs Expertise and Commodity Nomenclature for Foreign Economic Activity of the State Customs Committee, the Museum of Customs History, the Customs Institute and the National Cynology Center.