Subregional Training Course for Gulf Cooperation Council on the Technical Aspects of the Transfers Regime

The OPCW, with kind assistance from the Government of Qatar which provided a generous voluntary contribution covering all costs of the event, organised a training course for customs authorities for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on technical aspects of the transfers regime of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Representatives of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen attended the course, which took place on 19-20 February 2012 in Doha.

The event was opened by the Chairman of the Qatar National Authority, Brigadier General Nasser Mohammed Al-Ali, and covered by national news media. 

The course is designed for customs officials involved with their respective National Authorities in implementing the transfers regime, and aims to improve their ability to track transfers of chemicals listed in the Convention’s schedules of chemicals. Customs officials can play a significant role in diminishing and eventually eliminating discrepancies between the quantities of scheduled chemicals declared by importing and exporting States Parties in respect of the same transfers. 

The curriculum covered, inter alia, (1) an overview of the Convention and of the OPCW; (2) the rights and obligations of States Parties; (3) the role of National Authorities and their effective interaction with stakeholders; (4) identification of chemicals relevant to the Convention, including the application of the Harmonized System of the World Customs Organization; (5) sources of information for customs officials and customs laboratories; and (6) customs-related matters such as discrepancies in the reporting of transfers of scheduled chemicals, free ports and free zones, risk assessment, trans-shipments, and software used by customs services. 

Customs officials participated in a range of practical exercises and discussions on different aspects of the transfers’ regime which will have equipped them to play a substantial role within their National Authorities in the future. There was also great appreciation for the effort and generosity of the Government and National Authority of Qatar in sponsoring the event