DUSHANBE, November 3, Asia-Plus – Prime ministers of the member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have signed an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs affairs.

The agreement’s provisions “give an opportunity to the SCO customs offices to counteract violations of customs rules more effectively,” Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said after a meeting of the Council of the SCO prime ministers on Friday.

“This agreement became an important component of the comprehensive security control on the SCO space,” he said.

The prime ministers also adopted the SCO budget for 2008 and issued a joint communiqué that defines new areas of the organization’s development and sums up previous cooperation results.

A special working group on cooperation between customs administrations was instructed to maintain work on creating conditions for unification of customs, administrative and transportation rules, the communiqué said.