An integrated team consisting of Enforcement and Facilitation staff of the Compliance and Facilitation Directorate successfully conducted a virtual diagnostic mission with Sri Lanka Customs (28 June to 2 July 2021).

The Asia Pacific Border Management Waste Project aims to strengthen the response of various Asia Pacific Customs Administrations to effectively deal with legal imports of plastic waste, to mitigate the threat of illegal plastic waste shipments, and to sensitise the Administrations on the Basel Convention’s plastic waste amendments that became effective on 1 January 2021.

A self-diagnostic questionnaire was completed by Sri Lanka Customs, and was followed-up by detailed engagements by the WCO Secretariat with the Administration between 28 June and 2 July. Various areas were covered, such as the strategic approach to waste and plastic waste specifically, legal requirements, procedures and facilitation of legal consignments, the mitigation and enforcement of illegal consignments, supporting policies, and capacity building.

As an outcome of the project, a detailed implementation plan will be presented to the Administration, followed by an in-depth training workshop in the second half of 2021. In addition, a regional workshop on plastic waste will be held in 2022. At this workshop, issues of common interest relevant to plastic waste will be discussed, including a regional strategy on plastic waste for Customs, a training framework, as well as future enforcement activities.