Participants at a sub-regional training for customs authorities on technical aspects of the CWC transfers' regime, which was held in Dakar, Senegal in March 2014.
The OPCW and National Authority of Senegal jointly organised a training course for customs officers on the technical aspects of the transfers’ regime of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that took place from 25 to 28 March 2014 in Dakar, with 51 participants from 23 States Parties in north, west and central Africa present.*
The course was conducted under the third phase of the OPCW’s Programme to Strengthen Cooperation with Africa (“Africa Programme”) and supported with additional funding from the government of Norway. It was opened by Hon. Dr Anthony Tine, Minister for the Armed Forces, and closed by Dr. Elimane Saliou Gningue, Director General of Senegal’s Customs Authority.
The course curriculum included an overview of the CWC, the OPCW and the role of National Authorities; the need for effective stakeholder engagement with customs authorities; and the transfer-related provisions of the CWC and 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 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. A field trip to the Dakar seaport provided participants with first-hand experience on how Senegal’s Customs Authority handles imported and exported chemicals, including those listed in the CWC schedules.
* Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Tunisia