The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration partnered with the Polish Customs Agency to hold the first Joint Field Operation workshop for law enforcement personnel from seven European Union Member States.
Hosted by the Polish Customs Agency at the Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport in Poland, the program took place June 20-22 and included 22 customs officials and technical experts from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.
Led by instructors from National Nuclear Security Administration, the Polish Customs Agency and United Kingdom’s Border Force, this workshop strengthened enforcement agencies’ abilities in partner countries to prevent and detect illicit transfers of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)-related commodities. The regional workshop consisted of classroom-based lectures on commodities subject to export controls and a cargo inspection exercise at the Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport. The exercise showcased the cooperation between enforcement authorities and technical experts to target high risk shipments as well as proper inspection of paperwork and commodity shipments. Participants learned how to plan and execute similar joint field operations exercises in their own countries.
Poland is a graduate partner of the Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security program (https://www.state.gov/strategictrade/program/). Having achieved a high level of export control enforcement capabilities, Poland now shares that expertise with other countries with financial support from the U.S. government.
The U.S. Department of State works with our European partners to strengthen export controls and the capabilities of customs and other agencies that enforce the strategic trade control laws. Workshops like this one enable regional partners to share and adopt strong WMD targeting and field exercise training into their national export control programs and strengthen global enforcement.
