The World Customs Organization (WCO) announced on Tuesday (13.12.2022) the result of the successful Operation DEMETER VIII, a coordinated action to intercept illegal shipments of hazardous waste, especially plastic waste, as well as ozone-depleting substances (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
These products are regulated respectively by the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (the “Basel Convention”) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the “Montreal Protocol”). The implementation of these Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), which regulate the transboundary movements of environmentally sensitive goods, falls under the jurisdiction of Customs, which is mandated to control goods crossing borders. Therefore, by using risk indicators and focusing on pre-identified routes and hotspots during Operation DEMETER VIII, Customs officers conducted checks on suspicious shipments and seized illegal waste, as well as ODS and other harmful gases.
According to the WCO, the preliminary results show that during the Operation 139 seizures were made, namely:
- 3.647 tons of waste and 8.662 additional pieces of waste (unweighted)
- 25 tons of substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol
El Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya He praised the work of the administrations: “There is no doubt that Customs plays a crucial role in the fight against climate change and the success of operations such as DEMETER clearly demonstrates that cooperation is essential in this area,” said the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO).
“The WCO remains committed to supporting its members in the implementation of MEAs and regularly updates its relevant instruments to ensure that Customs officials are adequately equipped to carry out their duties. The importance for Customs of using the latest edition of the Harmonized System (HS) should not be underestimated,” he added.
Operation DEMETER VIII, the largest in the series with 90 participating customs administrations, was led by the WCO Secretariat, the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia/Pacific (RILO A/P) and China Customs, with the assistance of an Operational Coordination Unit based at RILO A/P in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Furthermore, the Operation was supported by the Basel Convention Secretariat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ozone Action, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the WCO Container Control Programme and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, Europol, the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) and the WCO RILO network.
Under the Kigali Amendment, Parties to the Montreal Protocol must now phase down production and use of HFCs.
The statement said that "WCO and its partners will continue to intensify their efforts to address environmental risks, with further enforcement initiatives planned for the future."WCO Press Release)
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