Cooperating for more efficient procedures to serve businesses

AmCham has organized a meeting at Customs Headquarters to introduce the new leadership of AmCham with the newly elected General Director of Customs, Mr. Arlind Gjokuta. Past cooperation between us has resulted in better implementation the Customs rules and regulations and of the current law. In addition, we have worked to improve the current reference pricing for products imported from the US and Canada.

The American Chamber of Commerce, praising this cooperation, has requested through its representatives: President, Mr. Enio Jaço, Executive Director, Mr. Ilir Trimi, Chair of the Tax and Customs Committee, Ms. Alketa Uruçi, Chair of the Regulatory, Legal & IPR Committee, Mr. Kledi Kodra, Treasurer, Ms. Juela Isaj, to strengthen the existing relationship in order to better address the issues our members face.

During the meeting, representatives of AmCham stated that beyond reference pricing, which has been a topic of long cooperation between us, issues related to the import of fake goods are a real problem for companies who hold the patent of these goods. One of the measures that can be taken to address this issue, is a better cooperation across different institutions that oversee this process in order to minimize illegal imports.

In addition, AmCham informed Mr. Gjokuta that procedures related to the reassessment of the value of goods at Customs remains a problem for our members. Also, we discussed the need for a new appeals department where claims can easily be filed and for an online portal where businesses can check the status of their goods and where rules and procedures are communicated and kept up to date.

Mr. Gjokuta stated he takes the concerns of the business community very seriously and expressed his readiness to tackle and address all the issues.