Page 76 - AEI Insights 2020 - Vol. 6, Issue 1
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AEI Insights, Vol 6, Issue 1, 2020
cooperative jurisdictions, and respond to new threats as identified by the UN Security Council
and the G20.
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Green Customs Initiative
The initiative was launched in 2004 to enhance the capacity of customs and other relevant
border control officers. The partnership that comprises international organizations, monitors
and facilitates legal trade activities and aims to investigate and prevent illegal trade in
environmentally sensitive products, considering trade related conventions and multilateral
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environmental agreements.
The initiative has the following partners:
− Basel Convention (Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes and their Disposal);
− OzonAction;
− Cartagena Protocol (Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Secretariat of the Convention on
Biological Diversity);
− Rotterdam Convention (Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
− Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and pesticides in International Trade);
− CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora);
− Stockholm Convention (Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs));
− INTERPOL;
− UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme);
− Minamata Convention (Minamata Convention on Mercury)
− UNODC (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime);
− OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons);
− WCOOMD (World Customs Organization)
Supporting legislations, agreements
UN Transnational Environmental Crime - Division of Environmental Law and Conventions
(DELC)
• Montevideo Program IV - UNEP/GC/25/INF/15
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The Montevideo Program is aiming to increase linkages between environmental law and other
areas, most of all the three pillars of UN (peace and security, human rights and development).
It assists the international community to highlight gaps and challenges and provides a
comprehensive framework for the development of legal principles and obligations in the field
of the environment. These are the illegal trade in wildlife, environmental crime, marine litter
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and micro plastics, and lead in paint and batteries, amongst others.
13 FATF (2019): Mandate https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/content/images/FATF-Ministerial-Declaration-Mandate.pdf (accessed on
28.08.2019)
14 UN Environment (2019): The Green Customs Initiative; https://www.greencustoms.org/ (accessed on 30.09.2019)
16 UN Environment (2019): The Montevideo IV Programme; https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/environmental-
rights-and-governance/what-we-do/promoting-environmental-rule-law-2 (accessed on 01.11.2019)
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