European Commission Certificate confirms excellence of Advanced Training Centre Bregana

The Advanced Training Centre Bregana has received the European Commission Certificate for the EU Centre of Training Excellence on Truck Search. This way, our customs authority and the Centre itself achieved a major international success.

The Certificate was awarded on 5 May 2026 during a meeting of the European Commission Training Support Group, which confirmed the quality and expertise of the Croatian training system for truck search and anti-smuggling.

 

 

With Croatia’s accession to the European Union in 2013, the Bregana border crossing lost its original function. A few years later, the Customs Administration directed its activities toward the development of practical training and field exercises.

In cooperation with the border police, criminal police and road traffic inspection, the first joint trainings were organised, which showed the need for the establishment of a structured and modern specialist training centre, modelled on the centre in La Rochelle, France. The Ministry of Finance supported the project, and the reconstruction of the premises in Bregana was financed by the state budget.

During the reconstruction of the facility, an idea was developed to establish the Centre of Excellence for Truck Search within CELBET training network, relevant at the time. This transformed the initial idea into a concrete project aimed at developing specialised EU training. CELBET representatives visited Bregana in January 2025, and in June 2025 a pilot training on truck search was organised according to CELBET and EUCAB guidelines (EUCAB succeeded CELBET as the expert team on customs cooperation in the external borders control). The training was rated as highly successful and received extremely positive feedback from participants and EUCAB representatives.

 

 

The training programme is based on work in small groups of up to 16 participants, which enables more intensive practical work and better interaction between instructors and participants. During the training, real cargo vehicles previously involved in smuggling are used, so participants can gain insight into the actual methods and techniques of hiding goods in illegal transport.

A special advantage of the Centre is its location right next to the motorway, which allows the implementation of practical exercises in real time, including stopping and searching vehicles as the final part of the training.

The Centre also cooperates with vehicle manufacturers such as Mercedes, Volvo and Toyota, so participants can get acquainted with modern vehicles and their safety systems.

 

 

Since April 2024, the Advanced Training Centre Bregana has conducted a total of 13 training courses in vehicle search, three international and ten training courses for Croatian customs officials.

The EU Centre of Excellence Certificate further confirmed the important role of the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia in the European network of specialist training.

In the future, further development of international activities is planned and establishment of centres of excellence in other areas of training, which would further strengthen the role of Croatia within the EU Customs training network.