OSCE Project Co-ordinator provides training and equipment to Ukraine’s border personnel to deal with chemical security threats

Forty-eight officers of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service and State Fiscal Service were trained to identify toxic chemicals and respond to emergency situations at border crossings in a series of two intensive four-day sessions in the Orshanets Training Center, the Cherkasy Region.

The workshops for personnel working at border crossings were organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and concluded on 26 April 2019. The sessions were conducted jointly with trainers representing both Services.

The training sessions covered principles of detection and identification of chemicals and dual use goods during inspection, algorithms of personnel action and interagency co-ordination and emergency response. Twelve trainees from each agency will be selected to become trainers for their colleagues in the future. 

“Effective control of cross-boundary movement of chemicals is highly important to address potential threats to the health and lives of those people who work at the border, and those who can be affected after hazardous chemicals enter the country,” said Henrik Villadsen, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. “We expect this training programme to be incorporated into the standard training of the agencies”. 

Additionally, the Co-ordinator provided 25 sets of personal protection equipment, detection kits, decontamination equipment and simulators of hazardous chemicals to cover training needs of border personnel.

This assistance is part of a project implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in partnership with the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine. The project is funded by the European Union and the United States of America.