The Ministry of Finance, the Customs Administration, in cooperation with the Customs Administration of the Republic of North Macedonia, is conducting specialist training in the Advanced Training Centre Bregana.
The training consists of the module “Inspection and search of passenger vehicles and buses” and the training of official dogs and handlers in the K9 unit, and it is aimed at strengthening the capacities in the detection of smuggling and other forms of illegal activities at land border crossings. The programme is attended by a total of 8 participants - 6 customs officers and 2 customs officers who serve as dog handlers.
During the multi-day training, the participants go through the theory and intensive practical exercises that include advanced techniques of inspection and search of personal vehicles and buses, identification of risk indicators and operational deployment of K9 teams in real working conditions. For this purpose, the Advanced Training Centre Bregana uses specially adapted vehicles and real-life scenarios, to ensure that training is carried out in circumstances that replicate actual situations at border crossing points as much as possible.
During the training, the participants were visited by the Director of Croatian Customs Administration Mario Demirović and the Director General of Customs Administration of the Republic of North Macedonia Boban Nikolovski. They used this occasion to stress the importance of continuous strengthening of bilateral cooperation, exchange of experience and joint efforts in combating smuggling and protecting financial interests and security of citizens in the region.
This programme represents another concrete step in deepening the cooperation between customs administrations of the two countries and contributes to the development of interoperable, professionally trained units ready to respond to the challenges of modern flows of international trade and cross-border crime.
