Fact Sheet: Regional Enforcement Network for Chemicals and Waste (Project REN)

 

Date of establishment 2012 - 2014
Legal basis Montreal Protocol, the Basel Convention,  the Rotterdam Convention, and the Stockholm Convention, and national laws and regulations associated with the MEAs
Objective Project REN aims to:
  • To increase the collective capacity of law enforcement agencies in Asia to combat illegal trade in harmful substances and hazardous waste (HSHW) and eventually environmental crime;
  • To introduce activities that would encourage legal trade in chemicals and waste in order to discourage unauthorized trade in HSHW;
  • To strengthen further the flourishing platform for regional enforcement networking by increasing its sustainability, and
  • To provide a mechanism where global, regional and national enforcement partners can act on illegal trade in HSHW in the region in a coordinated manner.
Nature Project
Membership Participating countries represented by enforcement officers; 25 countries in North East, South, and South East Asia.
Observers
  • Embassy of Sweden, Thailand/ The Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia (SENSA), on behalf of the Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency (Sida)
  • a representative from the Secretariats of the Basel/ Rotterdam/Stockholm Convention
Geographical scope Regional – 25 countries in North East Asia, South Asia and South East Asia
Substantive Scope Chemicals and waste covered by the Montreal Protocol, the Basel Convention, the Rotterdam Convention and the Stockholm Convention
Governance structure Project REN is administered by UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) with advie from the Project Steering Group, which is comprised of a representative each from:
  • Basel Convention Regional Center in Beijing
  • Basel Convention Regional Center in Jakarta
  • Basel Convention Regional Center in Tehran
  • WCO Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P)
  • WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific (RILO/AP) International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO)-INTERPOL
  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
  • a national focal point for the Montreal Protocol
  • a national focal point for Basel /Rotterdam /Stockholm Conventions
  • a national Customs Administration
  • UNEP DTIE Chemical Branch (also representing Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management [SAICM])
  • UNEP Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP)
  • Project REN Coordinator
Cooperation

Activities Project focus on five areas:
  • Technical assistance for Problem-solving;
  • Information/intelligence exchange;
  • Facilitation of Enforcement operations and establishment of an Environmental Enforcement Award;
  • Networking among environmental authorities, regional enforcement agencies, and Customs - Annual Workshop & On-line Forum, and
  • Sustainability of enforcement networking
Source of funding Sida; the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (mainly in-kind); members of the Project Steering Group (mainly in-kind); match-funds through partnerships
Contact information Ms. Kakuko Nagatani-Yoshida
Policy & Enforcement Officer (Ozone)
UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Room#0235, B Wing, 2nd Floor, UN Building, Ratchadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10020, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 288 1679
Fax: +66 2 288 3041
Email: kakuko.nagatani@unep.org
Website http://www.mea-ren.org/index.php