Membership in international organizations and bodies

Since 1st July 1994 the Republic of North Macedonia is a member of the World Customs Organization (WCO) World Customs Organization (WCO) - established as Customs Cooperation Council in 1952 in Brussels, Belgium and actively participates in its work. The main goal of this organization with 180 member states, i.e. theirs Customs Services from all over the world, is to achieve the highest level of harmonization and uniformity of the customs systems, examining the challenges encountered in the development and improvement of customs techniques and customs legislation.

Through this organization, the Member States enhance their customs cooperation in the interest of promoting international trade. One of the basic functions of the WCO is to to give recommendations to ensure uniformity in the interpretation and application of certain conventions concluded under its auspices. Under its auspices, 12 international conventions and a significant number of recommendations have been adopted.

The Republic of North Macedonia has been a member of the World Trade Organization since April 2003. The World Trade Organization (WTO), as a supranational institution is one of the most important institutions dealing with international economic relations. Through its bodies and units, the WTO realizes its dual role: establishing and strengthening rules for international trade in goods and services and trade liberalization. The WTO is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements and a place to resolve trade disputes. The importance of the WTO and the aspirations of countries to to be part of this organization derives from the great privileges that the WTO membership brings with it in terms of providing more favorable treatment for national products and trade entities in their access to foreign markets, as well as encouraging the growth of international trade in developing countries.

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a trade agreement between non-EU countries from Southeast Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. Founded by representatives of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, CEFTA expanded to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Kosovo.

The Republic of North Macedonia has been a contracting party to the CEFTA Agreement since 2006.

The Republic of North Macedonia is a member of the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILO) -  Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILO) 

Under the auspices of the World Customs Organization, a network of customs intelligence liaison offices has been established, aiming to contribute to their strengthening and greater efficiency in the fight against customs fraud and violation of customs legislation through regional and global intelligence exchange. Based on regional division, 11 offices have been established for all six WCO regions. The Republic of North Macedonia belongs to the region of Eastern and Central Europe, with a central office in Warsaw, Poland.

The exchange of data is done through a specially developed information system - Customs Enforcement Network (CEN), which a global database containing Customs seizures information, and the CEN based closed user group secure communications platform. Through CEN, by observing the highest standards of security and data protection, access to multiple databases is enabled and direct messaging between RILO members. The information exchanged is a tool in the fight against illicit trade and customs fraud.

The Republic of North Macedonia is a founding member of the South East European Law Enforcement Center - SELEC a law enforcement, treaty-based international organization that brings together the resources and expertise of Police and Customs authorities that join synergies in combating more effectively trans-border organized crime in the region. SELEC, as successor of SECI Center founded in 1999, is established to provide support to its 11 Member States (Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of North Macedonia, Hellenic Republic, Hungary, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Republic of Serbia and Republic of Turkey), to enhance the coordination in preventing and combating crime, including transnational serious and organized crime.

SELEC has more than 15 years of experience and expertise in successfully conducting joint investigations and operations at the regional level, to facilitate the rapid exchange of information through liaison officers of its Member States assigned to SELEC Office in Bucharest, Romania.

SELEC operates through eight working groups dealing with issues related to drug smuggling, financial and cybercrime, smuggling and customs fraud, trafficking in human beings, terrorism, stolen vehicles, environmental and nature-related crime, and In these operational activities, the Republic of Macedonia is the coordinator of the Working Group on Financial and Computer Crime and the Working Subgroup on Cultural Heritage-Related Crime, which is part of the Working Group on Environmental and Nature-Related Crime.

More information at www.selec.org