As part of its series of customs trainings, the LIFE SWEAP project organised the 5th event between 21 and 23 September 2022 in Felixstowe, United Kingdom. In total 26 Customs officers from the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany took part in the training.
With Customs and border force administrations playing an important role in controlling shipments of waste, the participants were trained on both the legislative as well as the practical aspects of relevant provisions and requirements in place to ship waste across borders. Demonstrated was how waste shipments can be targeted, recognised and classified, including the safe handling of waste containers. Also coordination with other agencies and authorities was highlighted by the trainers – especially when it comes to repatriation of cases of waste trafficking.
On the last day, the group was taken to the port in Felixstow to observe Environment Agency officers open pre-selected containers and how they recorded their findings using the new SWEAP data reporting App. Customs officers were able to put into practise what they had learned over the previous two days to determine the legality of the shipments that were inspected.
About the LIFE SWEAP Project
The Shipment of Waste Enforcement Actions Project (SWEAP) project is co-funded by the European Commission LIFE fund and co-ordinated by the IMPEL Network. The project runs between September 2018 to June 2023. The overall purpose of the project is to support the circular economy by disrupting the illegal waste trade at the EU level by increasing the capacity of the various actors in the enforcement chain, intensifying the collaboration, inspections and enforcement actions, developing and demonstrating innovative tools and technology and establishing a EU wide dataset based on inspection data and used for the development of intelligence products.
IMPEL Hosting Side Event at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention
