The Green Customs initiative

The GreenCustoms initiative An example of partnership to combat illegal traffic in hazardous waste and chemicals Mr. Suresh Raj, Capacity Building Manager UNEP DTIE / OzonAction Office Symposium on illegal international traffic in hazardous chemicals, Prague, 6 – 8 November 2006

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

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

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

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.

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

Background • Of particular relevance to Customs are: • TheBasel 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’

CITES The Montreal Protocol The Basel Convention The Stockholm Convention The Rotterdam Convention The Organisation for prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Cartagena Protocol The United Nations Environment Programme (DTIE – DELC) The World Customs Organization Interpol Partners

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

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

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

The GreenCustoms Training Guide • TheGreenCustomsGuide 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

The GreenCustoms Guide • GreenCustomsGuide 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

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

The GreenCustoms Guide • The GreenCustoms Guide does not replace in-depth technical training provided by GC partners • The GreenCustomsGuide 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

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

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 > Contributes to the priority defined by SAICM

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

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

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

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

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)

Thank you for your attention Suresh Raj United Nations Environment Programme DTIE – OzonAction Suresh.raj@unep.fr

The Green Customs initiative