The GreenCustoms initiative

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The GreenCustoms initiative

• An example of partnership to combat illegal
  traffic in hazardous waste and chemicals

Symposium on illegal international traffic in
hazardous chemicals, Prague, 6 8 November 2006

• Mr. Suresh Raj, Capacity Building Manager
• UNEP DTIE / OzonAction Office

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Outline

• 1. How to introduce the issue of environment to
  customs officers
• 2. Green Customs background on an innovative
  partnership
• 3. Specifics on the Green Customs Training Guide
• 4. Specific action on combating illegal traffic
  and relevance for SAICM
• 5. Conclusion

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Outline

• 1. How to introduce the issue of environment to
  customs officers
• 2. Green Customs background on an innovative
  partnership
• 3. Specifics on the Green Customs Training Guide
• 4. Specific action on combating illegal traffic
  and relevance for SAICM
• 5. Conclusion

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Green Customs a cross-cutting approach

• Most environmental problems are transboundary and
  global in impact, and they can only be addressed
  effectively through international co-operation
  and shared responsibility
• Customs and border-protection officers
  responsible for controlling trade across borders
  have an important role in protecting the
  national and global environment

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Customs Involvement

• A Customs officer might encounter various
  chemicals such as ozone-depleting substances,
  hazardous wastes and pesticides, and animal and
  plant specimens
• Not only raw materials and live animals and
  plants pass through Customs control, but also
  products that include certain chemicals or
  wildlife parts and derivatives
• It is a complex task and large responsibility to
  verify shipments and their documentation, and to
  verify compliance with national laws and to take
  action when violations occur

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Customs Guards of human and environmental
security

• Reduction/elimination of illegal trade in
  environmentally-sensitive items covered by
  specific international agreements, such as ozone
  depleting substances, toxic chemicals, hazardous
  wastesand endangeredspecies

• while protecting andfacilitating legal trade.

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Percentage of annual growth of world trade in
chemicals
Source WTO, International Trade Statistics, 2005
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Outline

• 1. How to introduce the issue of environment to
  customs officers
• 2. Green Customs background on an innovative
  partnership
• 3. Specifics on the Green Customs Training Guide
• 4. Specific action on combating illegal traffic
  and relevance for SAICM
• 5. Conclusion

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Background

• Of particular relevance to Customs are
• The Basel Convention (Basel Convention on the
  Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
  Wastes and their Disposal)
• The Montreal Protocol (The Montreal Protocol on
  Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer)
• The Rotterdam Convention (Rotterdam Convention on
  the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain
  Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
  International Trade
• The Stockholm Convention (Stockholm Convention on
  Persistent Organic Pollutants)
• CITES (Convention on International Trade in
  Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
• The Chemical Weapons Convention (Convention on
  the Prohibition of the Development, Production,
  Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on
  Their Destruction)
• The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

SAICM area
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Partners
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The GreenCustoms Initiative

• The GreenCustoms Initiative is a series of
  collaborative activities carried out by its
  partner organizations, aimed at raising the
  awareness of Customs and border control officers
  to several trade-related MEAs and relevant
  treaties
• Activities to date include awareness-raising
  workshops and the Guide to Multilateral
  Environmental Agreements and other related
  treaties

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Progress under GreenCustoms
Pilot workshops, training guide, website
Customs training under Montreal Protocol
MOU WCO/UNEP
GCI
2005
1991
2001 First Planning Meeting
2004 Funding secured
1980s Customs training under CITES
2003
2002 Concept Testing Workshop
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GreenCustoms Initiative - Activities

• Recent GreenCustoms training workshops
• GreenCustoms Workshop, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2006
• GreenCustoms Workshop, Arusha, Tanzania, 2005
• GreenCustoms Workshop, Bhutan, South Asia, 2005
• GreenCustoms Workshop, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2005
• GreenCustoms Workshop, Trinidad and Tobago, 2005
• Participation in partner activities (examples)
• COP-3 of the Rotterdam Convention, Geneva,
  Switzerland, 11 Oct. 2006
• The 16th Regional Workshop on Illegal Traffic in
  Hazardous Waste, Bratislava, Slovakia, October
  2006 (Basel Convention)
• 11th WCO Regional Heads of Administration
  Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Beijing,
  China, 2006

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Outline

• 1. How to introduce the issue of environment to
  customs officers
• 2. Green Customs background on an innovative
  partnership
• 3. Specifics on the Green Customs Training Guide
• 4. Specific action on combating illegal traffic
  and relevance for SAICM
• 5. Conclusion

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The GreenCustoms Training Guide

• The GreenCustoms Guide to Multilateral
  Environmental Agreements and other relevant
  treaties
• Chapter 1 explains MEAs and the role of Customs
  in their national implementation
• Chapter 2 provides an overview of the main
  international trade-related MEAs and relevant
  treaties
• Chapter 3 explores practical aspects of
  implementing controls for these agreements

In preparation for 2007
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The GreenCustoms Guide

• GreenCustoms Guide topics for each MEA or treaty
• Definitions
• Provisions for regulating trade
• The specific role of Customs in implementing the
  MEA/treaty
• Official documents to be aware of
• Practical considerations
• Health and safety
• Identification
• Seizures and disposal
• Derogations

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Content of the Guide

• The GreenCustoms Guide will also provide details
  on where additional information can be obtained,
  and what additional training resources are
  available
• The Guide will contain a chart that will provide
  an easy-to-interpret reference to the provisions
  of the MEAs and related treaties and what is
  required for processing by Customs

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The GreenCustoms Guide

• The GreenCustoms Guide does not replace in-depth
  technical training provided by GC partners
• The GreenCustoms Guide does not provide
  country-specific guidance on the implementation
  of MEAs and relevant treaties
• The GreenCustoms Guide does not provide
  country-specific information on legislation,
  penalties or disposal

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Outline

• 1. How to introduce the issue of environment to
  customs officers
• 2. Green Customs background on an innovative
  partnership
• 3. Specifics on the Green Customs Training Guide
• 4. Specific action on combating illegal traffic
  and relevance for SAICM
• 5. Conclusion

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Cooperation of UNEP with WCO

• Mutual Consultation
• Information Exchange
• Reciprocal Representation
• Technical Cooperation
• Specific cooperation in the regions
• RILOs, Regional Capacity Building centres

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Specific Efforts of GreenCustoms on Illegal
Traffic

• Highlighting specific products from Partner
  organisations
• Promoting tools such as the CEN or Eco-Messages
• Case studies demonstrating common lessons learnt
• Practical / Interactive exercizes for training
• Build on regional strengths and experience in
  MEAs see Ms. Lud Coppens presentation
• gt Contributes to the priority defined by SAICM

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Some lessons learnt

• Reinforce the partnerships to combat illegal
  chemical trade
• Involve industry early
• The power of networks to combat illegal trade
• Facilitate country-to-country dialogues on
  illegal trade
• Strengthen the full chain of enforcement of MEAs

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Prosecuting cases of illegal traffic

• See background paper
• Prosecution of environmental cases deterrence
  for illegal trade
• Customs may lack information on their role and
  existing avenues
• Experience varies across MEAs
• Relationship must be strong between stakeholders
  involved in enforcement chain

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The GreenCustoms Initiative

• Future GreenCustoms activities
• Publication and distribution of the GreenCustoms
  Guide
• GreenCustoms awareness-raising workshops
• Train-the-trainer workshops for Customs
• On-line training, e-learning
• Specialized skills training by GreenCustoms
  partners
• One-stop source for referencematerials for
  Customs on theGreenCustoms website
• www.greencustoms.org

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Outline

• 1. How to introduce the issue of environment to
  customs officers
• 2. Green Customs background on an innovative
  partnership
• 3. Specifics on the Green Customs Training Guide
• 4. Specific action on combating illegal traffic
• 5. Conclusion

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GreenCustoms Assistance and support

• International partnerships, such as the
  GreenCustoms Initiative on training, are one of
  the tools to combat illegal traffic in hazardous
  chemicals and waste
• Complementary to specific work, for example by
  MEA secretariats or SAICM.
• Can help contribute to SAICM implementation
  (partnerships built, awareness raised,
  collaborative capacity building activities)

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• Thank you for your attention
• Suresh Raj
• United Nations Environment Programme
• DTIE OzonAction
• Suresh.raj_at_unep.fr