Moldovan customs service to have new code of ethics

Chisinau, 17 August /MOLDPRES/- The cabinet today approved the code of ethics and conduct of customs staff in line with the international standards.

Reviewing the code of conduct of customs officer approved in 2009 was dictated by its adjustment to the legal framework on customs service and international standards. The customs service was assisted in drafting the document by a mission of the World Customs Organisation, which had advised within an assistance project in the reform of integrity with participation of EUBAM experts.

The experts ascertained that there were more documents overlapping with the code of conduct of customs service, as a result, consulting various legal documents might lead to confusion. Consequently, they decided to elaborate a new normative document setting the fundamental principles of conduct, mandatory rules of professional ethics and discipline in the customs service.

The new code sees ensuring the provision of quality services, based on ethics and organizational integrity, observance of service discipline, in order to ensure economic security of the state and to combat customs violations.

Data by the Customs Service show that in the first half of 2016, 167 employees were dismissed, 51 of them did not pass the attestation of office or were dismissed for reasons of integrity and other 116 were fired after disciplinary sanctions or resignation request, submitted from their own initiative.

The director general of the Customs Service, Vitalie Vrabie, has earlier said that a reorganization of the institution would be held through optimization, transfer of skills and responsibilities at the administrative level by customs posts.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcază)