The project, which the European Union financed with EUR944,000 through the 2002 CARDS Programme, was launched in May 2005,
A total of 47 experts from the Croatian Customs Administration were included in the project: The twinning partner was the Austrian Customs Administration.
A member of the project's supervising committee said the main objective was realised, namely the national customs services are prepared to introduce the NCTS. The New Computerised Transit System is a European wide system, based upon electronic declarations and processing. It is designed to provide better management and control of Community and Common Transit. Community Transit is the movement of goods between the EU member states. Common Transit is an agreement providing a mutual system for Customs transportation between the EU Community and the EFTA countries (Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Iceland).
The NCTS is expected to fully function in Croatia within two years.
The head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Croatia, Vincet Degert, said that customs issues were crucial for the EU's internal market, adding that Croatia which aspires to become an EU member state, should attach adequate attention to that issue.
He reiterated that late last year Croatia opened negotiations with the EU on a chapter concerning the Customs Union, announcing that the bloc would invest another three million euros in the adjustment of Croatia's customs system to that of the EU.