Transcript The Green Customs Initiative

The GreenCustoms
initiative
Raising awareness of Multilateral
Environmental Agreements and other
relevant treaties
Workshop on Illegal Traffic – Basel Convention
Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 3-5 October 2006
Etienne GONIN, UNEP DTIE / OzonAction Office
Background
• 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
Background
• 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
Background
Assessment
“Any progress achieved in addressing the
goals of poverty and hunger eradication,
improved health, and environmental
protection is unlikely to be sustained if most
of the ecosystem services on which
humanity relies continue to be degraded”
• Millennium Eco-System Assessment, March 2005
Why care?
Unchecked trade leads to environmental
degradation and Natural Resource Depletion
– thereby cutting our lifeline
Background
• A number of international agreements regulate the trade
in environmentally sensitive items and products, and the
requirements of these agreements are usually
incorporated in national legislation
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 wastes and endangered species …
• … while protecting and facilitating legal trade.
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
Key Treaties Related to Trade
•
CITES
– Endangered species
•
Montreal Protocol
– Ozone-depleting substances
•
Basel Convention
– Hazardous wastes
•
Stockholm Convention
•
Rotterdam Convention
– Chemicals
•
Cartagena Protocol
– Living Modified Organisms
(LMOs)
Trade and Customs are
key tools to implement
these treaties
•
Chemical
Weapons
Convention
– Chemicals
Partners
CITES
The Montreal Protocol
The Organisation for prohibition of
Chemical Weapons
The Basel Convention
The Cartagena Protocol
The Stockholm
Convention
The United Nations Environment
Programme (DTIE – DEC)
The Rotterdam
Convention
The World Customs Organization
Interpol
Cooperation of UNEP with WCO

Mutual Consultation

Information Exchange

Reciprocal Representation

Technical Cooperation

Specific cooperation in the regions
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 traderelated MEAs and relevant treaties
• Activities to date include awareness-raising workshops
and the Guide to Multilateral Environmental Agreements
and other related treaties
Progress under GreenCustoms
Customs training
under
Montreal Protocol
1980’s
Customs
training
under CITES
1991
GCI
MOU
WCO/UNEP
2001
2002
First
Concept
Planning Testing
Meeting Workshop
2003
Pilot
workshops,
training guide,
website
2004 2005
Funding
secured
The GreenCustoms Initiative
• 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)
– Forth Joint Customs-Ozone Officers Cooperation Workshop in the AsiaPacific Region, Bangkok, Thailand, 2006
– 11th WCO Regional Heads of Administration Conference for Asia and the
Pacific, Beijing, China, 2006
– 17th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP-17), Dakar,
Senegal, 2005
The GreenCustoms Initiative
• 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
The GreenCustoms Initiative
• 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
The GreenCustoms Initiative
• 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 Initiative
• The GreenCustoms Guide is an awareness-raising tool, aimed at
reducing confusion about the agreements, and promoting a
greater understanding of the relevant agreements and treaties,
and the role of Customs in implementing them
The GreenCustoms Initiative
• 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
• The GreenCustoms Guide does not provide
HS Codes, lists of manufacturers, or guidance
to importers/exporters of controlled items,
products and substances
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 reference
materials for Customs on the
GreenCustoms website
www.greencustoms.org
Specific Effort on Illegal Traffic
• Highlighting specific products from Partner
organisations
• Promoting tools such as the CEN or EcoMessages
• Enhancing cooperation between like-minded
institutions
• Case studies demonstrating common lessons
learnt
• Practical / Interactive exercizes for training
Regional Initiative on curbing illegal
trade: Project Sky Hole Patching
• Project to curb illegal trade in ozone depleting
substances (ODS) and dangerous waste in Asia
Pacific
• Monitor the movement of suspicious shipments
• Adopted at 11th WCO Meeting of Heads of
Customs in Asia Pacific
• 18 Customs administrations
• UNEP, RILO – AP as facilitators
• 1st phase (ODS) launched on 1st September
GreenCustoms: Assistance and
support
• The implementation of MEA provisions in national legislation can
demand a great deal of effort and commitment, but Customs
officers are not expected to do this alone
• At the national level, there are agencies and institutions that are
responsible for MEA implementation and that can assist you in
your work, and they also rely on your efforts to ensure national
compliance with the MEAs
• International support, such as through the GreenCustoms
Initiative on training, is also a source of information and advice
• Through your efforts, you are helping deliver a better environment
and a sustainable future for your country and for all nations
Thank you for your attention
Etienne Gonin
United Nations Environment Programme
DTIE - OzonAction
[email protected]