UN Environment, together with the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of the General Administration of China Customs, hosted the 6th Annual Workshop of the Regional Enforcement Network (REN) for Chemicals and Waste on 21 and 22 November 2017 in Shenzhen, China, with the objective of exploring proposals for a follow-on phase of a strengthened Regional Enforcement Network.
The meeting was attended by 41 participants from both customs and environment ministries in 15 countries in Asia, together with representatives from UN Environment, the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, the World Customs Organization’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Office in Asia Pacific, the Pesticides Action Network for Asia Pacific, the Basel Convention Regional Centers for China and South-East Asia, and the Basel Action Network.
The meeting was an important opportunity for countries and stakeholders to give and receive inputs on the scope and design of the present and the next phase of the project, currently under preparation, and was well received by participants, including the Chinese government.
It was agreed that UN Environment will support the initiative of countries to shift focus from traditional norms of handling hazardous wastes, which have proved ineffective, to developing more strategic actions aimed at increasing impact and long-term sustainability in handling hazardous waste.
UN Environment is committed to enhance cooperation at both the national and regional levels for effective enforcement of chemical and waste related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), including improving capacity of frontline enforcement officers involved in combating illegal trafficking of chemicals and waste.
For more information, please contact: Satwant.Kaur@un.org or visit http://www.projectren.org/
