OPCW Receives Montreal Protocol “Partners Award”

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has celebrated its 20th Anniversary. To mark the occasion, a “Partners Award” was presented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in recognition of its contribution to and participation in the Green Customs Initiative during a ceremony in Montreal on 20 September 2007.

The Green Customs Initiative is an international initiative launched in 2001 to train customs officials to implement the provisions of several multilateral environmental agreements. Since 2005, OPCW has been participating in the outreach programmes of the Green Customs Initiative. The OPCW seeks to promote greater awareness among customs services of the requirements of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) dealing with the transfers of scheduled chemicals.

The OPCW has participated in Green Custom Workshops organized by UNEP in Trinidad and Tobago (2005), Georgia (2005), Bhutan (2005), Tanzania (2005), Uzbekistan (2006) and China (2007).

The Montreal Protocol, which was agreed to on 16 September 1987, is an international agreement that seeks to eliminate substances whose emissions deplete the stratospheric ozone layer. It entered into force on 1 January 1989.

PR98 / 2007

Categories: Non-proliferation of chemical weapons, OPCW and the UN, Outreach