Press release

31 October, 2013

As part of its efforts to counter the illicit diversion and trafficking of precursor chemicals used by terrorists and other criminal organizations to manufacture explosive devices, the WCO conducted a Trainer Accreditation Workshop in collaboration with Netherlands Customs from 21 to 31 October 2013.

This Workshop was part of Programme Global Shield (PGS), an international initiative launched in 2010 to monitor the trade in 14 precursor chemicals used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Participants were given practical training on IEDs, end-to-end supply chain management and the diversion of chemical precursors used to manufacture IEDs, as well as a demonstration of one of the latest advancements in detection technology.

Developing a pool of qualified instructors capable of training officers in their own national languages is critical to the delivery of PGS and to fulfilling WCO Members’ training requests in this domain.

Participants spent the first week of the Workshop at Netherlands Customs’ training centre facilities near the Port of Rotterdam and were trained both by WCO and Netherlands experts. The second week of the Workshop was held at WCO headquarters in Brussels.

The Trainer Accreditation Workshop proved a highly sought-after event, attracting over 100 applications. The participants selected came from the Customs Administrations of Germany, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uruguay. Given the appeal of the training and the need to create a larger pool of trainers, the WCO will organize a repeat event in 2014.