H.E. Dr Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water inaugurated, today Monday 20 June 2011, the regional “Green Customs” workshops organized by Dubai Customs with the attendance of H.E. Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zones Corporation, Director General of Dubai Customs as well as international figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), economic attachés and a number of representative bodies from GCC and local ministries, authorities and departments responsible for the enforcement of environmental legislation and implementing relevant international obligations inaugurated yesterday a series of workshops for the Green Customs Regional Workshop.
The three day workshops which were organized by Dubai Customs in coordination with Ministry of Environment and Water and UNEP intended to raise awareness on the Green Customs Initiative that was launched by the UNEP in participation with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and a number of related international organizations to combat illegitimate trade of environmentally harmful substances and facilitate movement of legitimate trade.
More than 100 customs inspectors from locally and regionally, representatives from related government strategic partners, clients from importing, exporting companies, manufacturers also attended the workshop.
H.E. Dr Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, said that Customs green initiative is gaining more ground and significance in combating illegal trade. “ It is an evident indication of conformity to multilateral international agreements, and the UAE has taken many steps and procedures in that field’ he said.
HE said that these workshops will hopefully boost capacity of Customs staff in combating and monitoring illegal trade of restricted and prohibited materials by enlightening them with these materials and of international and local legislations in that regard especially in trade of environmentally harmful materials.
HE thanked Dubai Customs for their efforts in organizing the workshop and stressed the importance of more cooperation and coordination between customs and environment bodies for more compliance to Green Customs Initiative and more protection to environmental local security.
H.E. Ahmed Butti said:" This initiative represents the most recent model for international joint action against illegitimate trade of harmful substances to the environment and facilitates legitimate trade movement through building capacity of customs inspectors and employees involved in the control and monitoring of threatening items and wastes as well as the endangered flora and fauna and to introduce them to the international environmental agreements on which the initiative is based.
He emphasized that these workshops are regarded significant internationally as environmental crimes are growing. Statistics issued by the UNEP indicate that the crime syndicates earn around 22-31 billion dollars every year as a result of hazardous waste dumping in a way threatening the ecosystem and human’s health, smuggling proscribed hazardous materials and exploiting and trafficking protected natural resources.
H.E. Ahmed Butti stated:" There is a link between the modern diseases and the environmental issues such as food and water pollution. Unfortunately, millions die as casualties of these diseases every day and from different age groups including 5 million children across the world. In addition, millions of people are suffering from heart diseases, arteriosclerosis, difficulty breathing and other fatal diseases causing a social and financial burden on the governments and societies.”
H.E. Ahmed Butti stressed that preserving the environment and providing protection from the diseases related to environmental malpractices is a common responsibility where local and international efforts must be brought together to ensure a better life for humanity besides maintaining the natural resources to ensure sustainable development of the current and future generations. He pointed out as well that Customs’ men are considered the “Green Fence” for every society.
He further said that Dubai Customs seizes every possibility towards furthering its cadre’s skills and competencies, especially Customs inspectors, through providing them with the required training in all specialties in addition to equipping them with the most hi-tech checkup and inspection machines such as x-raying cargos, vehicles and containers and their contents in all customs land, sea and air entries to maintain the security of the UAE and halt the entry of internationally prohibited items. Such steps contribute to achieving the Department’s strategic vision being the leading customs administration in the world supporting legitimate trade and at the same time reflect its keenness to develop business mechanisms which secure smooth passage of individuals and goods.
He noted as well that Dubai Customs efforts in this field help achieve Dubai Strategic Plan and the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai towards sustainable development environmentally, socially and economically as well as “Maintaining safe, clean and sustainable environment in Dubai through updating and unifying the international environmental standards in accordance with the international criteria and developing the required mechanisms for their implementation besides integrating environment-related issues with the development policies and programs and increasing environmental awareness rate.” He also said that the Department’s efforts complete other respective bodies’ efforts in the fields of environment, health, trade and market protection.
During the three-day workshops organized by Dubai Customs, a number of world-class experts will lecture about the “Green Customs” initiative and the international environmental agreements it was built on as well as the role of customs authorities and the WCO in combating crimes against the environment.
The workshops demonstrate case studies on the harmful violations against the wildlife and trading with the ozone-depleting substances. They address as well the obstacles posed in front of implementing the environmental agreements internationally in a bid to propose proper solutions to them.
It is worth mentioning that Green Customs is an international initiative launched by the UNEP in June 2003 in cooperation with WCO, Interpol and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It was built on a number of international agreements which regulate the proper procedures for transporting hazardous wastes, radioactive and chemical substances and the endangered flora and fauna such as Basel Convention on the Trans boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Convention on Biological Diversity), Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and pesticides in International Trade, and other environment and climatic changes related agreements.