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ECA customs cooperation meeting on ozone-depleting substances and ECA ozone protection award for customs & enforcement officers in Istanbul, Turkey, 9-11 October 2012

October 12, 2012

ECA customs cooperation meeting on ozone-depleting substances and ECA ozone protection award for customs & enforcement officers in Istanbul, Turkey, 9-11 October 2012

It is the second time that awards of honor have been presented to Customs and Enforcement Officers from China, European Union, Finland, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia FYR, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Uzbekistan in recognition of their strong commitment to address illegal / unwanted trade in ozone-depleting substances (ODS). This initiative is crucial to provide recognition and visibility to Customs Services in the role of implementing trade-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements such as the Montreal Protocol.

During the period of July 2010 and August 2012, the award winners reported 17 successful
seizures of 72 pieces of equipments and 3016 refrigerant cylinders / containers containing more than 61 metric tons of ozone-depleting chemicals and mixtures. Informal Prior Informed Consent (iPIC) consultations prior to the issuance of trade licenses avoided 16 unwanted / illegal shipments of more than 342 metric tons of ozone-depleting chemicals and mixtures.

The representatives of China, European Union and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia presented their electronic licensing systems and UNCTAD highlighted features of the newly developed single window system. In the context of discussions how to exchange and verify licensing and trade data between countries, the European Union offered direct access to any interested country and to notify any export license issued.

Countries discussed the cooperation under iPIC system in details which assists in preventing illegal shipments of ODS and assists member countries in implementing licensing systems effectively. The network countries welcomed the Russian Federation as an active member of iPIC and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia announced during the meeting that it has joined iPIC. Also, Turkey considers joining the system in future. Participants encouraged global participation in iPIC and to help preventing illegal/unwanted trade in ODS.

ECA customs cooperation meeting on ozone-depleting substances and ECA ozone protection award for customs & enforcement officers in Istanbul, Turkey, 9-11 October 2012

All participants received access to the WCO / UNEP Montreal Protocol e-learning course and invited to use such cost-effective approach in their respective Customs Administrations. The Russian Federation will explore the possibility of using this training tool at the Russian Customs Academy. Kyrgyzstan indicated that a CD-ROM version would be useful for countries with slow Internet access and Turkey suggested producing also national language versions.

It was recognized that further efforts should be done to pro-actively outreach information on seizures, investigation and prosecutions to the Ozone Secretariat and the general public and to share alerts and intelligence information on suspicious shipments with relevant authorities of the trade partners. Electronic networks such as WCO’s Customs Enforcement Network (CEN) and Environet as well as Interpol’s Eco-Message are available for efficient outreach.

Participants had also the opportunity to practice the use of ODS refrigerant identifiers and to get acquainted with safety measures.

The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of Turkey and the OzonAction Programme of UNEP’s Division on Technology, Industry & Economics in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, UNDP and UNIDO on 9-11 October in Istanbul, Turkey. The award was endorsed by World Customs Organization, the Ozone Secretariat, the Multilateral Fund Secretariat, UNEP DTIE and the Czech Republic the implementing partner and the host country Turkey. The participants included Customs and Ozone Officers from the 11 ECA network countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Turkmenistan) and the 5 Countries with Economies in Transition (Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan).

All meeting documents and presentations will be available from ECA website: www.unep.org/ozonaction/ecanetwork/

UNEP DTIE OzonAction, Paris Office

Mr. Halvart Koeppen, Regional Officer (ECA)
Tel: +33-1443714-32, Fax: +33-1443714-74
Email:

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