Virtual ceremony of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Montreal Protocol Award for Customs and Enforcement Officers (5th edition)

The virtual ceremony took place on Wednesday, 29 March 2023, 10:00 Paris / CEST time on Zoom (France switched to Central European Summer Time)

During the event, the following awardees were congratulated and thanked: Bulgaria, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan as well as the European Commission and European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) for their strong commitment to address illegal / unwanted trade in ozone-depleting and fluorinated global warming substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment. They shall receive the prestigious Montreal Protocol medals and certificates.

Their nominations and case descriptions have been validated by the World Customs Organization, the Ozone Secretariat and UNEP Law Division / OzonAction. In total, 64 seizures were reported during the period 2019-2020: 14,617 refrigerant cylinders / ISO containers with more than 380 metric tons of HFCs, HCFCs and CFCs, and 215 pieces of equipment. Informal Prior Informed Consent (iPIC) consultations between ECA countries and their trade partners prior to the issuance of the mandatory export and import licenses avoided 12 unwanted / illegal shipments of more than 167 metric tons of HCFCs and halons during the period 2019-2020. The attached report describes the results, seizure and iPIC cases and related statistics of the 5th edition.

View the Agenda