200 participants from 45 countries gathered in Berlin this month to share their experience and discuss current and future challenges faced by customs laboratories. The fight against narcotics and doping chemicals, fuel frauds and tariff classification of food additives/components were some of the issues discussed where the customs chemists play a key role. In addition, the Seminar was largely dedicated to green customs and the role played by customs laboratories.

The 8^th Seminar was organised by the European Commission Directorate-General for Taxation (TAXUD) and Customs Union through the Customs Laboratories European Network (CLEN), in collaboration with the German Customs Administration, and was held from 4^th to 6^th July 2023 in Berlin, Germany.

In total, 95 presentations and posters were presented mainly by customs laboratories representatives from EU and candidate countries, Norway, Switzerland, USA, Canada, South Korea (World Customs Organisation Regional Customs Laboratory (WCO RCL)), Peru (WCO RCL), three countries supported by the EU-WCO Programme in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Uganda), an important delegation from WCO as well as participants from Council of Europe (EDQM), Europol and OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).

Highlights of the event

• Greening customs, by adapting customs to green legislation or adapting green legislation to customs procedures,
• Improve the fight against narcotics and other illicit traffics, by sharing knowledge of analytical methods as well as libraries and use new techniques (e.g. NMR),
• Fight fraudulent fuels, by creating analytical capacity to implement the new Euromarker,
• Clarify the tariff classification of complex goods where physicochemical parameters plays a key role
• Environmental protection by applying sophisticated analytical and IT techniques to detect illicit goods (e.g. biomolecular analysis to detect protected timber)
• Use the Customs Control Equipment Instrument EC programme to equip EU customs with the most developed techniques to protect the EU borders, (e.g. mobile diagnosis)
• Enhance the use of IT tools and promote customs activities to improve the sharing of analytical methods, sampling procedures and expertise as well as analysis libraries of key chemical substances,
• Improve international cooperation by donating used but functioning analytical equipment to less developed countries to strengthen the functioning of Customs Laboratories around the World.

The Seminar was opened by Ms Colette Hercher, Director-General of German Customs, and Mr Matthias Petschke, DG TAXUD’s Director for Customs. The motto of the event was “Working together: Smart, Efficient, Competent, Committed”.

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