site.btaBulgarian Customs Agency Scores High in International Operation DEMETER X

Bulgaria’s Customs Agency has seized the most smuggled fluorocarbon products among its peers in the international operation DEMETER X of the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Agency said on Thursday. In the course of the operation, the Bulgarian customs administration seized 2,207.1 kg of illegal refrigerants in 18 cases, ranking first in the number of cases and sixth in the quantities detected among all participating customs agencies. Operation DEMETER X took place over eight weeks in the second half of 2024 and involved 110 customs administrations. The coordinated action is carried out to protect the environment and targets the illegal cross-border transport of hazardous and other waste, ozone-depleting substances, and fluorinated greenhouse gases.

The WCO’s operation DEMETER dates back to 2009 and is the largest international operation in the customs community's efforts to implement the provisions of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and, since 2019, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, including the Kigali Amendment.

The operation enables participating customs administrations to enhance their capacity through data and information sharing to identify high-risk shipments and strengthen their cooperation mechanisms. The tenth DEMETER operation is organised by the WCO in cooperation with China Customs and with extensive support from many partner international organizations. In the course of the operation, seventeen customs administrations seized substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment, with the customs administrations of Bulgaria, Gambia and Italy leading the way in the number of seizures. A total of 450 seizures were made by 47 customs administrations, the WCO reports. 

In the framework of the operation, the Customs Agency also reported good communication and coordination with the relevant national authority, the Ministry of Environment and Water.