Ukraine and Lithuania reach key milestone in EU4Digital eCustoms pilot

The customs authorities of Ukraine and Lithuania signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 25 October, regarding their mutual eCustoms pilot launched recently under the EU4Digital programme. 

The MoU lays the foundations to enhance customs procedures and data exchange, facilitating cross-border trade within the Eastern Partnership region. 

The eCustoms initiative facilitates the implementation and testing of advanced data-exchange solutions between customs authorities. These solutions aim to reduce bureaucratic obstacles, enable faster processing times and enhance transparency, ultimately supporting businesses, trade and strengthening overall economic ties between Ukraine and the EU.

The agreement between the State Customs Service of Ukraine and the Customs Department Under the Ministry of Finance of The Republic of Lithuania is the first instance where the bilateral exchange of customs data will take place between countries that do not share a common border. “It sets a precedent for future collaborations and demonstrates the potential for digital solutions to overcome geographical barriers and further increase connectivity,” says a press release by EU4Digital.

The MoU outlines specific objectives for establishing a connection between SEED (Systematic Electronic Exchange of Data) nodes of the two countries.

The Ukrainian State Customs Service has already implemented the SEED infrastructure through previous bilateral Ukraine-Romania and trilateral Ukraine-Moldova-Romania eCustoms pilots. Lithuania had paused its use of SEED following the completion of a pilot with Belarus, but will now reimplement and refine the system to establish an efficient node connection with Ukraine. 

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Press release