OSCE supports Ukraine in combatting environmental crimes at the border

Representatives of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, on 25 December 2014, handed over to the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine a series of informative posters and training materials on enhancing environmental controls at border crossings.

Three hundred sets of seven posters provide reference information for environmental inspectors who work along border control posts on detecting the illegal trafficking of waste, ozone-depleting substances and rare and endangered animal and plant species. The trans-boundary movement of such environment-sensitive goods is the subject of a number of multilateral agreements ratified by Ukraine. The posters are to be placed at all sites of environmental control along the border.

Additionally, 30 folders with training materials have been handed over to a capacity-building class of the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine. Since 2008 the OSCE has conducted a series of workshops for more than 200 environmental inspectors, customs and border guard officers on radiological control, and the detection and prevention of environmental crimes at the border.