On February 22–23, 2023, the fifth interregional meeting was held in Almaty in the framework of the Global Container Control Program of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization.

The heads and experts of customs services, as well as other competent agencies of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended this event.

Opening the event, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr D.Zhanalinov noted that this meeting is a convenient platform for discussing topical issues in the customs sphere and contributes to the development of interregional cooperation.

Ms. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia, welcomed the participants.

During the two-day meeting, the participants discussed the results of the interregional operation to curb illicit trafficking in tobacco products, shared successes, difficulties and lessons learned in the coordination of the operation. Further, the issue of multilateral and bilateral practical cooperation within the framework of the IREN Network was discussed, including progress, priorities and proposals for further consolidating success.

During the meeting, the tendencies of the development of the drug situation in the region, the measures taken to prevent the use of legal international trade and transit corridors for the purposes of drug smuggling were considered. In this area, CARICC staff made presentations on "CARICC as a leading platform for promoting and coordinating joint anti-drug operations" and "CARICC's achievements, potential and experience in the information and analytical direction of activity." The representative of CARICC emphasized the importance of analytical work aimed at solving the problems of operational and strategic response to drug trafficking and combating transnational organized crime.

The participants emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation mechanisms and prompt exchange of information, establish and expand ties, timely resolve problematic issues of practical interaction between national contact persons of customs services and port control groups of the countries participating in the Interregional Network and the opportunity to exchange information.

At the end of the event based on the results of the Interregional Expert Meeting, relevant recommendations developed.