The Port Control Unit on Kazakh-Chinese Border: Creating Sustainable Law Enforcement Structures

From 4 to 15 June 2018, UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia conducted a two-week practical training for Customs officers from the State Revenues Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan at "Altynkol" dry port on Kazakh-Chinese border under the UNODC-WCO (World Customs Organization) Global Container Control Programme (CCP). The training is a continuation of CCP Theoretical training conducted in February 2018, focusing on the development of Port Control Unit's (PCU) capacity at "Altynkol" dry port.

In his opening speech, Mr. Batyr Geldiyev, UNODC Regional Programme Coordinator, stressed that the training was an excellent opportunity for strengthening the knowledge and skills of the State Revenue Committee's officers on "profiling" high-risk containers and utilising modern techniques in practice. Mr. Andrew Chilcoat, Export Control and Border Security Advisor in Kazakhstan has also attended the training and observed practical exercises as CCP donor representative.

During the training participants had a unique opportunity to learn advanced risk profiling techniques, conduct comprehensive analysis of customs documents and conduct thorough container examination in a real work environment. These efforts, supported by the WCO and UNODC experts, resulted in successful seizures of misdeclared goods in a container transiting through the "Altynkol" railroad station.

It is expected that the training boost the establishment of a Port Control Unit at the priority dry port in Altynkol area which is envisaged by the programme. Moreover, the trained officials will represent a core part of that unit.

The CCP Regional Segment for Central Asia is funded by the Government of Japan and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Programme.