GCI conducts joint training on green customs in the Latin America and Carribean region
From 20 to 22 August 2019, the Green Customs Initiative (GCI) secretariat together with UNEP’s OzonAction team, held a joint training workshop for customs and national ozone officers from Spanish speaking countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The workshop, held in Asunción, Paraguay, provided a platform for the exchange of good practices, strengthened the officers’ capacities and enhanced cross-border cooperation on the trade of environmentally sensitive goods. The officers were additionally taken through the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) that are part of the GCI’s work.
A survey on the capacity needs of participating national customs’ administration entities was also conducted. This survey will inform the design of a green customs curriculum for the training of national customs officers. The survey was followed by group discussions on the desired approach and scope of such a curriculum. The officers underscored the continuous need for training, exchange of best practices and knowledge sharing and welcomed the prospect of a curriculum. 19 customs officers from 14 national customs administration entities participated in the survey- representing Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The development of the curriculum reflects a shift in GCI’s strategy towards more sustainable activities with a continuous impact. For more information, please contact Amanda Cabrejo le Roux via amanda[.]cabrejo[at]un[.]org, or Aphrodite Smagadi at aphrodite[.]smagadi[at]un[.]org