A regional training course for licensing, customs and border control authorities in Eastern Europe on the Technical Aspects of the Transfers’ regime of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was held in Prague, Czech Republic from 27 to 29 April 2010. A total of 53 participants from 22 States Parties attended the course, which was organized with funding support from the European Union.
In her opening remarks to the training course the Czech Republic’s Vice Director of General Directorate of Customs, Ms Vendulka Hola, said an important aspect of the CWC’s overall control system is efficient cooperation among all institutions involved, including the National Authority, customs and licensing authorities, and the police and intelligence services.
The multi-stakeholder training course, the first of its kind organized by the OPCW, offered comprehensive information and training on technical issues relating to the Transfers’ regime. The agenda included an overview of the CWC and the OPCW, the role of the National Authority, and the need for effective interaction among stakeholders. It also covered identification of chemicals relevant to the CWC, including current recommendations of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) on the identification of Scheduled chemicals in the Harmonised System, sources of information for customs officials and customs laboratories, the Handbook on Chemicals, the OPCW Central Analytical Database, and other useful databases.
Participants explored discrepancies in the reporting of transfers of Scheduled chemicals and practical customs-related matters such as control of Scheduled chemicals in free ports and free zones, risk assessment, transshipments, and software for customs services. They also were informed about practical ways to implement the Convention aimed at eliminating discrepancies between the quantities of Scheduled chemicals that are declared by importing and exporting States Parties in respect of the same transfers.
OPCW News 09/2010