ERDUT, 3 Dec (Hina) - The Transitional Customs Service in eastern Slavonia was opened on the Erdut bridge, Croatian-Yugoslav border, on Tuesday. The opening ceremony was attended by Croatian Customs Administration officials, officials
of the U.N. Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) and local Serb representatives.
ERDUT, 3 Dec (Hina) - The Transitional Customs Service in eastern
Slavonia was opened on the Erdut bridge, Croatian-Yugoslav border,
on Tuesday. The opening ceremony was attended by Croatian Customs
Administration officials, officials of the U.N. Transitional
Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) and local Serb
representatives. #L#
The establishment of the customs service was another step
toward the reintegration of the Croatian Danubian area into
Croatia, said Derek Boothby, deputy to U.N. Transitional
Administrator. Boothby added that the Transitional Customs Service
would control the application of customs regulations, but there
would be no changes in the free passage of people over the Erdut
bridge.
The establishment of customs and immigration services is a
very serious and important step toward the reintegration of the
area into Croatia's legal and constitutional system and we have now
to develop that system to the benefit of all people living in the
area, said Josip Knezic, head of the Croatian Customs
Administration.
Respect for regulations of the Erdut agreement and those of
the U.N. Security Council resolution on the UNTAES mandate had been
taken into consideration during negotiations on the establishment
of the customs service, Knezic said.
Croatian customs officials would arrive at other border
crossings on the Croatian-Yugoslav border in the next several days,
Knezic said, adding that the existing customs regulations would be
applied in the first transitional phase, while the completion of
that process would see the application of Croatian customs
regulations.
Serb representative in the Transitional Customs Service Mirko
Jagetic said that today's event represented another step toward the
implementation of the peace process based on the Erdut agreement
and other documents signed between the international community and
the Croat and Serb sides.
The opening ceremony also included the presentation of customs
officials' uniforms and customs seals which will be used by the
Transitional Customs Service.
The number of Croat and Serb customs officials on all border
crossings will be the same. All customs officials will be included
in the same education program.
The Transitional Customs Service will soon name its
international director as well as his Croat and Serb deputies.
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031753 MET dec 96