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Customs officers need support to fight environmental crime
2005-11-22 07:54:32
By Editor
Enviromental crime might be a new phenomenon to many people in the country but it is a big and lucrative business that earns local and international crime syndicates in the world huge sums of money.
The criminals do not only confine themselves to illegal import and export of endangered animal and plant species or their products but also engage in proscribed hazardous materials and environmentally sensitive commodities such as ozone depleting substances (ODS), toxic chemicals and hazardous waste.
This illegal trade has serious consequences on human beings as well as the environment.
It threatens not just the future of international environmental and trade agreements, but also eats away the ozone layer that protects earth life from the sun’s harmful radiation.
With less ozone in the atmosphere the earth becomes more exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation threatening human, plant and animal life.
People in various parts of the word have started to experience skin cancer, weakened immune systems and poor vision.
They have also experienced significant crop damage due to unchecked UV radiation.
Although there are no reliable figures on the scope of environmental crime, particularly in ODS, it is estimated that thousands of tons of the substance have been traded in recent years in the world.
The serious effects on human and animal life as well as the damage on plants are ample evidence that the illegal trade has spiralled to outrageous heights.
This situation calls for immediate action from the government, individuals, companies and the civil society aimed at strengthening existing laws and regulations that serve to check the illegal trade.
We can no longer afford to leave the burden on law enforcers of environmentalists alone.
We would therefore like to commend the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the government of Tanzania for training customs officers, through the Green Customs Initiative, in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAS) and their role in protecting the country’s environment and its people from the illegal trade in toxic and hazardous chemicals.
The workshop that took place in Arusha last week enabled the customs officers to identify their significant role in protecting the country’s endangered animal and plant species from being exported abroad illegally.
Tanzania has a nasty experience in the export of prohibited plant species as until recently dealers in the export of unprocessed logs had been exporting prohibited tree species.
Until now, huge loads of sandalwood have been impounded in various parts of the country while in the process of being smuggled out.
This only confirms that illegal trade in prohibited plant species is no longer hearsay, but a reality in our country.
On the other hand, the thousands of tons of stockpiles that are scattered in the country might not be an indication of illegal trade in toxic chemicals and chemical wastes but shows that we have in our midst a lot of hazardous chemicals which deplete the ozone layer.
It is not really important at this juncture to debate how these chemicals found their way into the country.
It is for this reason that we think the training of customs officers in this matter is very important as they are in the fore-front in determining what should get into our country and what should not, what should be exported from our country and what should not.
More importantly, Green Customs Initiative workshop has provided them with an insight on how the criminals operate, the routes and the tricks of the business.
Education is fundamental in curtailing illegal trade.
Ignorance of ODS, for example, creates a conducive situation for smugglers to conduct the illegal business.
But a customs officer trained in ODS, and MEAs cannot be deceived easily.
Yet it takes more than merely trained customs officers to combat illegal trade in toxic chemicals, hazardous waste and endangered animal and plant species.
We must go further afield and make sure that these officers have adequate equipment and tools to perform their duties satisfactorily.
We must ensure that they are exposed to current technologies and skills in detecting, investigating and prosecuting so that environmental criminals do not capitalize on these gaps.
More importantly, other organs must be ready to cooperate with these officers and give them maximum support.
They must be kept abreast with new legislation or amendments of environmental laws, they must be informed of updates in MEAs and other conventions.
The bottom line is that we must create a formidable front in the fight against environmental crime with customs officers spearheading the battle.
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