
Basic tasks in the area of providing for protection of the market and security of international trade are practically common to all customs administrations. International trade always affects at least two customs administrations and each of them controls only part of the whole commercial operation. Therefore customs administrations must closely cooperate on the basis of international agreements, which provide a legal framework for exchange of information, mutual assistance in investigations related to breach of customs regulations, etc. The Czech Republic has signed agreements on mutual assistance in customs matters with more than twenty countries. In this respect, it should also be mentioned that the Czech Republic is a long-term member of the World Customs Organization, which contributes significantly to easier communication with other customs administrations throughout the world. It is understandable that the closest cooperation occurs between the EU customs administrations, which jointly provide for performance of supervision over the customs territory of the Community. This cooperation is based on the EU legal regulations and is extended by the Naples II Convention and the Convention on the Customs Information System. An important task of the European Commission is to ensure uniform application of common customs regulations over the entire territory of the EU and thus the same conditions for all the commercial entities in the Communities that import or export goods. That is why the Commission has created the Customs 2007 program, which is intended to facilitate exchange of experience between the customs administrations of the EU Member States. The Czech Customs Administration joined this communitary programme at the end of the 1990’s and continues to actively participate in it.