For the first time, a joint training was organized by the WCO, the Secretariat of the Basel Convention (SBC) and the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC)-WCO Container Control Programme (CCP). It was successfully conducted with Sri Lanka virtually between 27 September and 1 October 2021 and benefited the work of Sri Lanka Customs, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Environment and the Central Environmental Authority in implementing and enforcing the Basel Convention on plastic waste.

For the WCO, the workshop was organized in the framework of the Asia Pacific Border Management Waste Project, which 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.

During the National training, exercises on targeting, examination and investigations were used to give the participants a hands-on approach in the fight against illegal trade in plastic waste. An interactive module on business process analysis, finally provided Customs and border control officers with an approach to enhance border cooperation and streamline the regulatory requirements in order to promote effective controls of transboundary movement of plastic waste, and build capacity to prevent cases of illegal traffic.

Following up this virtual joint National training a detailed implementation plan will be presented to the Administration, followed by a regional workshop on plastic waste in 2022.