The OPCW and National Authority of Ghana jointly organised a training course for customs officers on the technical aspects of the transfers’ regime of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which was held from 8 to 11 October 2012 in Accra. The course was attended by 45 participants from 17 States Parties in north, west and central Africa* and conducted under the auspices of the second phase of the OPCW’s Programme to Strengthen Cooperation with Africa on the CWC (“Africa Programme”), with funding from the European Union.
The course offered an overview of the CWC and the OPCW, the role of National Authorities, and the need for effective stakeholder engagement with customs authorities. It also covered the transfer-related provisions of the CWC and the identification of chemicals relevant to the Convention, including recommendations of the World Customs Organization to identify Scheduled chemicals in the Harmonised System.
The course familiarized participants with relevant information sources for customs officials and laboratories, including the Handbook on Chemicals, the Online Scheduled Chemicals database, the OPCW Central Analytical Database and other useful databases and websites. Participants discussed discrepancies in the reporting of transfers of Scheduled chemicals and practical customs-related matters such as the control of Scheduled chemicals in ports and free zones, risk assessment, trans-shipments, and software for customs services.
The course provided participants with information on practical ways to implement the Convention’s provisions and to eliminate discrepancies between quantities of Scheduled chemicals declared by importing and exporting States Parties in respect of the same transfers. Participants learned about the OPCW’s international cooperation and assistance programmes and the tools offered to States Parties to support their national implementation of the CWC. A field trip to the Tema seaport provided participants with first-hand experience on how the Ghana Revenue Service (Customs) handles chemicals that are imported to and exported from the country, including chemicals listed in the CWC schedules.
* Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Togo