From 21-23 May, the Green Customs Initiative (GCI) in collaboration with the government of the Maldives, convened a capacity building workshop for customs officers from the South Asia region, in Malé, Maldives.

The workshop opened with remarks from Ms. Elisa Rim, the Montreal Protocol South Asia Network Coordinator at UNEP,  Mr. Mohamed Maseeh, the Assistant Commissioner for the Maldives Customs Service and Mr. Chunwan Shi, an intelligence analyst at the World Customs Organizations – Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia Pacific. The three speakers noted that Customs have an important role to play in environmental protection and stressed the need for cooperation amongst the diverse regulatory authorities involved in combatting illegal trade of environmentally sensitive commodities. In her keynote speech, Ms. Aminath Shauna, the Maldives Minister for  Minister of the Environment, Climate Change, and Technology, echoed these remarks and appreciated the training opportunities afforded by international agencies and initiatives such as GCI. She also commended Maldives for being the first developing country to first to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) that are regulated under the Montreal Protocol to the Vienna Convention.

The workshop covered wide-ranging sessions including trends in illegal trade of environmentally sensitive commodities and thematic areas of biodiversity protection and waste management, with participants sharing related enforcement challenges and good practices. Particularly, the participants were taken through multilateral environmental agreements such as the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm Conventions and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Numerous resources were presented e.g., the Green Customs Guide to MEAs and reporting tools e.g., the Customs Enforcement Network (CEN). The participants also got a chance to visit the Can Lai Port in Vietnam and the Male Port in Maldives to observe the practical aspects of risk management systems, health and safety protocols and clearance processes. Notably, the Maldives Customs is a 2022 recipient of the Asia Enforcement Environmental Awards for its role in enforcing a plastic trade ban.

The challenges expressed by the participants included lack of proper screening equipment, limited knowledge of MEAs and corresponding national laws, and weak coordination amongst relevant authorities. The GCI secretariat will explore collaboration with several participating countries to address some of the challenges, including through development of national green customs curricula to integrate environmental learning within regular customs training programmes.

This workshop was attended by Customs representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, The Peoples Republic of China, Iran (Islamic State of), Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Also in attendance were resource persons from the BRS and CITES secretariats, International Maritime Organization, South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network, UNEP, UNODC, WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building and the WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Office as well as national authorities such as the Indonesia, Maldives and Vietnam Customs, Thailand’s CITEs management authority and the Maldives INTERPOL – National Central Bureau. It was held in parallel with the network meeting of national ozone officers from the South Asia region, similar to a previous workshop held for the Southeast region in Vietnam. On the last day of the workshop, the  participants joined their national ozone counterparts to celebrate Maldives quitting HCFCs.