FIJI will be the first country in the Pacific to have a Container Control Program unit, according to a statement issued by the Fiji Revenue and Customs and Service (FRCS) yesterday. FRCS said this was a milestone achievement for the institution.
“The CCP training will assist Customs officers and equip them with the right skills and knowledge to successfully operate the CCP unit in the near future,” said FRCS chief executive officer Visvanath Das.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) Superintendent International Operations, Bjorn Roberts stated the partnership between Fiji and Australia would be further strengthened through this program.
“Australia Border Force already has a strong relationship with FRCS and through Australian Federal Police with the Fiji Police, this is just a next step in further strengthening this partnership to enable ongoing, real-time operational collaboration to protect the region’s borders from the harm of transnational crime,” he said.
“The first CCP unit is in Fiji because we see Fiji as the hub of the Pacific in terms of cargo movements.
“By strengthening Fiji’s borders, we can also protect the other Pacific nations.”
According to him, it was important the border agencies worked together to ensure that enforcement efforts do not interfere with the facilitation of genuine international trade. World Customs Organisation (WCO) facilitator, Peter Timmermans said the unit would focus on illicit trade and identify them through risk management techniques.
“We try to identify high risk containers for narcotics, wildlife, environmental crimes and also security,” he said.
“At the moment for South East Asia, methamphetamine is quite a serious problem so we address and train officers on how best to access the information they need to be able to effectively target this threat.”
WCO through the collaboration with the ABF and FRCS were conducting the CCP training for FRCS customs officers in Suva and Nadi.
FRCS stated the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) and WCO had launched the CCP to help Governments in setting up effective container selections and controls to prevent drug trafficking and other illicit cross-border activities.
This resulted in a practical exercise being conducted at the Oceania Logistics with Customs officers and Suva Detector Dog unit.
According to the statement since its establishment 15 years ago, the UNODC/WCO CCP had established more than 100 CCP units globally.
Since the inception of the CCP program, 6907kg of heroine, 1723 tonnes drug and explosives precursors, 72 tonnes of cannabis, 2755 kilograms new psychotropic substances and 323 tonnes tramadol had been siezed.
A total of 183 containers pertaining to environmental crime were seized which included protected wood, hazardous and plastic waste, ivory and rhino horn.
