Over the course of 50 days “Operation Demeter” identified high-risk shipments and shared information across customs agencies and ports to target illicit cross-border shipments of hazardous waste. The waste ranged from household waste and scrap metal to discarded electronic goods and used vehicle parts.

World Customs Organization Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya said, “The international Customs community and its partners cannot allow the illicit trade in environmentally sensitive goods to continue unabated when it has such devastating affects on the health and safety of people around the globe.”

“Rising international concerns about the fragility of the environment spurs us on to strengthen Customs border controls through focused capacity-building initiatives and enhanced exchange of information, as this will ensure that the illegal activities of syndicates involved in this trade are dealt a massive blow.”

Customs officials at over 300 seaports and other selected points intensified their risk profiling and physical controls to identify high risk shipments, and notified each other of any suspicious shipments across the continents.

Read the complete article: Green Customs Operation Seizes 30,000 Tons Illegal HazWaste for additional information, including the top countries where hazwaste was seized and contents of the seizures.

Under the the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, governments have the right to prohibit the import of waste.

Parties are prohibited from exporting waste without pre-consent from importing countries. Where this occurs without consent it is regarded as illegal trafficking and exporting countries are obligated to take back the waste or dispose of it properly in accordance with the terms of the Basel Convention.

“Coordination, cooperation and communication are the enemies of those who profit from this trade,” said Mikuriya.

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