© UNODC
04th July 2021 - Vienna, Austria
On behalf of the Government of Yemen, H.E. Ambassador Haytham Abdulmomen Shoja’aadin, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the UN (Vienna), and Mr. John Brandolino, Director of the Division for Treaty Affairs of UNODC signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) to formalize the implementation of the UNODC-World Customs Organisation (WCO) Container Control Programme (CCP) in Yemen.
The MoU aims at strengthening the cooperation to improve security at seaports, dry ports, land-border crossings, and airports. Among the provisions is the establishment of Port Control Units (PCUs) at different border crossing points. These units will be equipped, trained, and mentored to undertake specialized profiling, targeting, and inspection of high-risk freight containers, with minimum disruption to legitimate trade and business.
CCP has been working with authorities at the port of Aden since 2018 and has now expanded to the port of Saiyoun. By the end of 2021, CCP will have substantially advanced in the provision of its staged and structured series of trainings; and in the establishment of Air Cargo Control Units (ACCUs) at both Aden and Saiyoun airports. Once operational, the ACCUs will join a worldwide network of Units that covers more than 70 countries. Last year, CCP Units in the Middle East and North Africa region contributed to increasing the number of seizures of illicit goods, such as drugs, precursors chemical and ammunition.
Despite the challenges related to COVID-19, CCP, using a hybrid format, continued the delivery of specialized trainings to the benefit of customs and relevant law enforcement agencies in Yemen. As a result, participants reported that they started to apply the risk analysis and profiling techniques learned during trainings; and were happy to share the news of new seizures at border crossing points.
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