CARICOM Secretariat hosts workshop on enforcement of environmental agreements

The CARICOM Secretariat will host a workshop on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in Guyana March 24 – 26.

The seminar is being delivered under the Project for Capacity-Building related to in African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries in partnership with the Guyana Revenue Authority.

It is expected that there will be approximately 35 participants from the Customs Department, Ministry of Environment, the Guyana Hydrometeorological Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and related organizations. There will also be expert presenters from the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean.

According to Project Coordinator, Caribbean Hub Capacity Building ACP-MEAs, Dr. Thérèse Yarde the workshop is targeted specifically at Customs Officers and Border Controls officials, to raise their awareness about the role they play in enforcing MEAs that are intended to control trade in environmentally sensitive commodities (such as hazardous chemicals, GMOs, endangered species of wildlife), and to build their capacity to play this role effectively.

The workshop will be delivered using a Customs Handbook and learning kit developed by the CARICOM Secretariat in 2012.  The Handbook has been disseminated in hard copy and in electronic format to Customs Administrations in all CARICOM Member States.

The first Customs workshop under the project was held at the World Customs Organization Regional Training Centre in the Dominican Republic, in July 2012.

The CARICOM Secretariat is the Hub for the Caribbean sub-component of the Project for Capacity-Building related to in African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries, which is currently in its second phase. The first phase ran from 2009-2014, and Phase 2 began in 2015.  The objective of the project is to enhance Caribbean countries’ capacity to implement multilateral environmental agreements, and so to improve countries’ management of their environment and natural resources. This is being done through training, technical assistance, awareness raising and policy support and advisory services.  The project is funded by the European Union through the ACP Secretariat. The United Nations Environment Programme is the overall management and coordination agency for the project in all three regions (Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific).