Brussels, 11 March 2019 - The Container Control Programme (CCP), developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) has won the prestigious Bureau International des Containers (BIC) Award 2018.
The CCP helps strengthen international supply chain security by building the capacities of national border agencies to detect the use of sea, land and air cargo for illicit purposes. It develops cooperation among national law enforcement authorities and private sector entities such as port operators and shipping lines.
The BIC Award is given annually to an individual or organization for noteworthy contributions to the advancement of safety, security, standardization or sustainability in the fields of containerization and intermodal transportation. Each year, BIC's Board of Directors select a single candidate from a pool of industry nominees.
The BIC award 2018 was presented to UNODC and WCO on the opening day of the annual Enforcement Committee meeting on 11 March 2019 at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels.
The Secretary General of BIC, Douglas Owen, and the BIC Chairman of the Board, Giordano Bruno Guerrini, presented the award. Mr. Guerrini said that "The Container Control Programme has been selected for its successes in improving security and mitigating smuggling in container transportation. The BIC believes that the capacity-building efforts of the CCP, and its important work in promoting advanced risk-assessment around the world, are to be applauded and encouraged."
UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov highlighted that "As traffickers exploit our increasingly interlinked economies, using techniques and networks which grow more sophisticated with each passing year, we must also evolve to match this globalized threat, adapting our approaches to become stronger, more effective, more sustainable and more cooperative, sharing the latest information and best practices."
He also noted that "The UNODC -WCO Container Control Programme continues to keep pace with these rapid developments and the support it provides to secure the global supply chain is needed more than ever. We are extremely proud to see the programme receive the recognition it deserves with the BIC award."
The efforts of the CCP have resulted in seizures of a wide range of prohibited goods, such as weapons, proceeds of fisheries, forest, wildlife and other environmental crime, prohibited drugs, strategic goods, falsified or unlicensed medicines, precursors for drugs and weapons, cigarettes and goods which are counterfeit or otherwise violate intellectual property law.
At present, the CCP is operational in 50 countries and has initiated activities in ten more. More than 85 operational Port Control Units (PCUs) and Air Cargo Control Units (ACCUs) have been established since the programme's inception in 2004.