Tunisia - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Container Control Programme (CCP) organized a one-week training on Strategic Trade and Export Control (STEC) for officials in Tunisia from 20 to 24 January.
STEC is an integral and intense one-week training that explores the relationship between good profiling of containers and its implications for the economy. The training focused on Tunisian officers' capacity in terms of profiling, targeting and dealing with strategic goods and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) materials.
This training constituted the third of its kind for the officers in the CCP's Tunisian Port Control Unit (PCU) and aimed to build on their existing knowledge. PCUs are inter-agency units equipped to exchange information with their counterparts in other countries using a secure communication application, which allows them to share information about high-risk containers and verify their identification numbers.
The training was complemented by a field visit to the seaport of Radès which allowed the officers to gain a complete and deep understanding on both a theoretical and practical level. The trainings not only involved external experts from the world of customs and law enforcement, but also benefited from internal expertise of UNODC staff involved in training PCUs.
The participating officers of the three Tunisian PCUs had different law enforcement backgrounds, and came from Customs, Border Police, Port Authority and the Stevedoring Company, creating a mosaic of shared experiences and allowing for the transference of lessons learned across entities. Officers from the Tunisian Customs Headquarters Risk Analysis Directorate and the Head of Customs Hazardous Goods Unit also participated. A meeting with the Head of Customs at the seaport of Radès was also part of the agenda for the trainees.
The Director General at Customs Headquarters hosted a ceremony of appreciation for this CCP initiative. The event also celebrated the UNODC-CCP donation of Precursors and Drugs Identification kits as well as handheld devices (TruNarc Analyser) that will serve to strengthen the capacity of the officers in the PCU to profile and target illicit material. The training was made possible through funds from the United States.
