The 16^th Regional Workshop on Illegal Traffic, Bratislava , Slovakia , October 2006

Sub-title: Workshop on safe and effective detection, investigation, prosecution of illegal traffic of hazardous waste and other waste, for customs officers, border guards, inspectors and police officers

The workshop was held in Bratislava , 03-05 October 2006 with participation of twelve CEE countries.

Workshop has been organised thanks to financial support of TAIEX and the professional support of SBC.

The importance of the workshop has been emphasized by the attendance of Mr. Vladimír Blazicek, General Director, Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (SR) at the official opening of the workshop and by the professional support of SBC through Ms. Laura Thompson, Legal Expert and Mr. Joachim Wuttke, General Affairs of Waste Management Section, Federal Environmental Agency of Germany .

Co-operating Agencies: Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Basel Convention Regional Centre Bratislava, Federal Environmental Agency of Germany , VROM - Inspectorate, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment of The Netherlands, Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Interpol, UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, National Focal Points of the Basel Convention.

The objective of the workshop was to strengthen the supervision and control over transboundary movement of waste and increase the effectiveness of inspection and custom services, border guards and the police. The programme introduced and used the guideline elaborated by Secretariat of the Basel Convention: recently adopted Training Manual on Illegal Traffic.

Specific objectives of the workshop were to:

• present National Procedures and Mechanisms that participating countries have established to manage transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and to address cases of illegal traffic of such wastes, based on the responses to the Questionnaire No. 1, that had been circulated to the participants before the workshop;
• present European and International Mechanisms Combating Illegal Traffic;
• resent cases of illegal traffic of waste that have been detected and/or prosecuted in participating countries;
• exchange information and experience among CEE countries.

The outcomes of the workshop were:
Concluding Remarks:

• most countries indicated that they had enacted legislation that implemented the Basel Convention as well as the relevant regulations of the EU, and their procedures;
• furthermore, several countries indicated that they have an import ban for final disposal;
• few countries mentioned that their national legislation considered as hazardous, additional wastes to those listed in the Basel Convention;
• Ms. Thompson reminded participants that import bans and national definitions of wastes have to be notified to the Secretariat in order to be in applicable to all Parties of the Basel Convention;
• some countries indicated that they have tasks forces at the national level that include several agencies and that they participated in international programmes or networks such as CEN and IMPEL;
• finally, most countries indicated that their customs and enforcement officials faced a lack of expertise and equipment in order to properly deal with illegal cases of transboundary movements of wastes.

Recommendations:

• the participants recognised the importance of international cooperation and the timely exchange of information in dealing with illegal traffic of wastes. Furthermore, the need of improving the cooperation and coordination of the various agencies involved in the control of transboundary movements of wastes at the national level was stressed.
• one country suggested that a follow-up training course for customs and enforcement officers, more focused on practical aspects, would be useful.
• in view of the changing nature of border controls within an enlarged European Union, several countries highlighted the new challenges of cooperation between agencies for combating illegal traffic of hazardous wastes.
• two countries suggested that some of the presentations of cases of illegal traffic that were held during the workshop and the case study that was discussed should be added to the manual in the future.

The following countries participated : Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic .

Report of the 16th BCRC workshop on Illegal Traffic

Agenda

List of participants

Opening Statement by Ms. Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto, Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention

Basel Convention

Training manual on Illegal Traffic

Council Regulation (EEC) No. 259/93

Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council

IMPEL/TSF A Practical guidance for managing illegal shipments of waste