DUSHANBE, November 26, 2009, Asia-Plus  - Providing senior border officers from 11 OSCE participating States with an overview of OSCE commitments related to border control and implementation of international travel document security standards is the aim of the seminar being held this week at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe.

The five-day workshop, which concludes on Friday, brings together 20 senior border officers, custom experts and government officials from Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, FYROM, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

Workshop topics include sessions on general overview and upgrading technological security features of travel documents, International Civil Aviation Organization minimum security standards for handling and issuance of machine-readable passports and other travel documents, enhancing capacities and improving cross border co-operation in detecting and preventing the use of fraudulent and counterfeit documents.

"We attach great importance to this College as a unique entity which will play an important strategic role in promoting international standards in all aspects of border management", said Ambassador Ivar Vikki, Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.  "We are grateful to the donors who have already contributed and to the international organizations and national training institutions which have expressed their willingness and readiness to co-operate with the OSCE Border Management Staff College".

The course is the third one held at the College, which was launched in May 2009.