Turkmen and Tajik Customs Officers took part in the Container Control Mentorship Programme

The Global Container Control Programme (CCP), jointly implemented by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organizations, continues the extensive training of customs officers of the Central Asian States. Thus, as a follow up to the theoretical, practical and advanced training, the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia organized a series of mentorship programmes for officers of the Port Control Units (PCU) aimed at establishing and maintaining effective container controls that serve not only to prevent drug trafficking and other illicit activity, but also to facilitate legitimate trade and border revenue.


In August, a mentorship programme was conducted at the International Customs Terminal in Ashgabat for nine officers representing the Port Control Units in the Ashgabat dry port and the Turkmenbashy seaport as well as the State Customs Service Headquarters of Turkmenistan. Additionally, UNODC handed over the HazmatID360 chemical identifier system to the State Customs Service.


In June, ten officers representing the Port Control Units of "Dushanbe-2" and "Nizhniy Pyanj" dry ports and the State Customs Service Headquarters as well as the Drug Control Agency of the Republic of Tajikistan took part in a mentoring programme conducted at the Nizhniy Pyanj Customs House.


Risk management, risk indicators, illicit drug trends, seal tempering, examination of conventional and refrigerated containers, precursors, concealments, secure communication system ContainerComm, CITES and IPR were the main topics of the mentorship programme in both countries. Additionally, the PCU teams worked with international experts to conduct profiling on the commercial documents as well as the inspection of selected containers.


Donors for the CCP Regional Segment are the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program as well as the Government of Japan.