From 24 to 26 July 2018, the WCO participated at the "VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference on the Problems of Expert Activities" in Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation). The Conference was opened by Mr. Peter Tokarev, Head of the Central Expert Criminalistic Customs Administration (CECCA) who emphasized the important role played by Customs Laboratories in the protection of the society and the environment.

The Director of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, Mr. Ping Liu, thanked the Customs of the Russian Federation for the invitation to participate in the Conference. He also thanked the Regional Customs Laboratory for taking the lead in organising the Conference, noting that the WCO supports and promotes such events and regional networking for Customs Laboratories as it provides invaluable opportunities for Members to share practical experiences in the analysis of a variety of goods. During the conference, experts from Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Korea, Russian Federation and the WCO exchanged experiences and challenges regarding chemical analysis performed by Customs Laboratories.

A wide range of topics were addressed and the participants were informed about the WCO´s capacity building and network activities, the update of the Customs Laboratory Guide, the Action Plan on Mineral Resources and the oil and fuel theft problem.

Moreover, perspectives on the implementation of sensory (organoleptic) analytical standards, the chemical analysis of some specific commodities (e.g., food and flavour additives, meat products, vegetable oils, polymers, mineral oils, ferroalloys, narcotics, designer drugs, etc.) and some modern forensic and cultural heritage analytical methods were presented. In his closing remarks, Mr. Tokarev thanked participants for the high level discussions and emphasized the importance of the cooperation and networking between Customs Laboratories.