In partnership with the Container Control Programme (CCP) operated jointly by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the WCO COPES Programme1 organized a training course which was delivered online from 22 to 26 February 2021 in Tunisia.
The workshop began with an address by Ms. Imen Bahlous, Director of the Office for International Cooperation (BCI), who expressed her appreciation to the CCP and COPES Programme for their efforts in bringing the workshop to fruition.
The training course brought together 11 Customs commanders and lieutenants from the respective Port Control Units (PCUs) at Radès, Sfax and Sousse as well as from the Office for International Cooperation (BCI) in Tunisia's General Directorate of Customs.
In its fight against the transportation of illicit goods in sea or air containers, the CCP is setting up PCUs and Air Cargo Control Units at the key seaports and airports of recipient countries.
Personnel working in these units are therefore benefiting from training courses provided for the purpose of improving their capacity in relation to targeting, risk management, establishing Customs infringements and gathering evidence. They are thus able to expedite effective controls while minimizing disruption to the flow of legitimate trade.
This course was organized with these considerations in mind. After the COPES Programme and its team had been presented and the course participants introduced, the agenda for the week was structured around the full spectrum of Customs enforcement activities, from the establishment of a violation, via the methods for gathering evidence and conducting seizures, all the way to the securing of a conviction.
For further information about the COPES Programme, please send your request to: COPES@wcoomd.org.
For more information on the CCP, please contact Norbert Steilen at: Norbert.Steilen@wcoomd.org.
1 Customs Operational Practices for Enforcement and Seizures.