OSCE supports workshop on preventing illegal trafficking of hazardous waste

KYIV, 4 November 2008 - Detecting and preventing illegal trafficking of hazardous waste in Eastern Europe is the aim of a training workshop that ends in Kyiv tomorrow.

The workshop, organized by the OSCE in co-operation with the Ukrainian Environment Ministry, is the third in a series of events on detecting and preventing illegal transportation of hazardous waste to and from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. It gathered around 55 custom officers and environmental inspectors responsible for cargo control at borders, as well as officials from the environment ministries of all three countries.

"Generation of hazardous waste is growing in the world and trade of that waste is one of the most profitable types of organized crime. We have to focus on the measures that need to be taken to prevent waste trafficking," said Lubomir Kopaj, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. "This includes enforcement of current legislation, regular revision and improvement of legislation, capacity building of the responsible authorities and improvement of international and intersectoral co-operation, as well as co-operation between governmental and non-governmental organizations."

The workshop participants discussed implementation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which has been ratified by all three countries, as well as such topics as waste classification and identifying falsified movement documents. They also learned best practices on combating illegal activities.

Capacity building of custom officers and environmental inspectors is also expected to prevent possible negative environmental, economic and health impacts in the region.

"This project builds on the conclusions and findings of the environment and security initiative assessment report for Eastern Europe, which was issued in May 2007 by OSCE and several international partner organizations, and has identified close to 20 environment and security areas of concern," said Raul Daussa, Programme Officer of the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.