Customs and enforcement officers from 13 countries and the European Union have seen their efforts rewarded during last month’s meeting of the UNEP Regional Ozone Network for Europe & Central Asia (ECA network).

A record number of 258 successful seizures of 9,947 pieces of equipment and 10,201 refrigerant cylinders or cans containing more than 70 metric tons of ozone-depleting substances, mixtures, products & equipment were reported for the period May 2014 to April 2016.

Among the ozone champions receiving medals was Spain’s Public Prosecutor Office for the Protection of the Environment, whose investigation led to the seizure of 37 metric tons of ozone-depleting refrigerants - the largest haul for the period.

Officers from Bosnia & Herzegovina, China, Croatia, European Union, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan were all lauded.

The fourth edition of the awards were presented during the ECA Customs Cooperation Meeting taking place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 24-25 May .

The award is endorsed by the World Customs Organization, Ozone Secretariat, Multilateral Fund Secretariat, UNEP’s OzonAction Programme as well as the State Committee on Environment Protection and Land Resources of Turkmenistan as the meeting host.

To read a summary of the seizures for May 2014 to April 2016 in English please click here. A Russian version can be found by clicking here.

For further information please write to halvart.koppen@unep.org