In the framework of the WCO-UNODC Container Control Programme (CCP), the WCO held the first national specialized training course on countering illicit trafficking of cultural objects for the Port Control Units (PCUs) from Queen Alia International Airport and Aqaba seaport in Jordan. The training took place in Amman from 11 to 15 February 2018, due to financing by the Norwegian Government. 

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of the WCO, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Jordanian Customs, the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Ambassador of Norway to Jordan. 

Seventeen representatives of Jordanian Customs, the General Intelligence Department (GID), the Department for Military Security (DMS) and the Public Security Directorate's Special Branch and Anti-Narcotics Department attended the training, alongside experts from the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the WCO, INTERPOL and the Netherlands.

The training is based on modules developed by the WCO and first rolled out at the regional MENA Train-the-Trainer event in Beirut, Lebanon, in September 2017. The objective of the national training was to raise awareness among all law enforcement and security agencies of the threat stemming from illicit trafficking of cultural objects and to provide PCU staff with operational tools and instruments for their work in the airport and seaport environments. 

The training included modules on the identification, handling and documentation of cultural objects, the use of international and national databases, and resources available to law enforcement agencies. Analysis of the national legislation on import, export and transit procedures as well as on the protection of movable and immovable heritage in Jordan was another focus of this initiative.

The theoretical training was followed by practical work at Queen Alia International Airport. Follow-up mentoring sessions at the airport and Aqaba seaport will be held later this year.