Tackling trafficking that harms the environment

Illicit pesticides – Protecting food security

If the bees disappeared off the surface of the globe, then mankind would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more mankind.

OLAF has been targeting the abuse of customs procedures regarding shipments of forbidden plant protection products, which are highly controlled within the EU, with the aim of preventing the arrival of pesticides containing banned substances that endanger pollinators and humans, pollute soil, water and air, and contaminate the food chain.

One such action, in Bulgaria, saw OLAF working with the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency and the Bulgarian National Police General Directorate to intercept around 11 tonnes of illicit pesticides.

Thiamethoxam and Imidacloprid were banned because of the harm they cause to bees. Chlorpyrifos was outlawed because it can cause adverse neurodevelopmental effects on children. All three substances were seized during the operation.

Another operation saw OLAF work alongside local authorities in Romania for the seizure of 353 litres of insecticide valued at around €100,000.

Illicit export of textile waste

Last year OLAF dealt with a case related to the illicit export of textile waste for recycling from Italy to Türkiye.

Textile fibres, mainly artificial and synthetic, were being exported as second raw material but destined to recovery plants in Türkiye. According to the allegations, Türkiye did not have the technology to recover such textile waste in an environmentally sound manner.

OLAF investigators noted that there were possible breaches of the customs legislation, specifically the misdeclaration of waste at export.

The coordination between Italian and Turkish customs identified around 4,200 tonnes of textile waste that were sent illegally to Turkish companies that could not manage them appropriately. Of these, 2,090 tonnes were found stored in the warehouse of a Turkish recycling facility that did not conform to Turkish environmental regulations and whose authorisation was subsequently withdrawn by the Turkish Ministry of Environment.

Furthermore, the checks found 768 tonnes of textile waste located in the Turkish Port of Mersin that were destined to be illegally dumped in Syria.

During the operation OLAF also participated in an on-the-spot inspection organised by the Turkish authorities, to assess the legality of all the waste consignments delivered in Türkiye by the EU companies under investigation in the EU.

OLAF investigation led the Italian authorities to conclude the investigation with 24 people and 18 companies investigated over the illicit management of 20,000 tonnes of textile waste. The illegal profit that was gained thanks to this fraud was up to €4 million.

Award winning work in preventing the illegal trade of F-gases in the Netherlands and Greece

In recent years OLAF has worked with partners to prevent the illicit trade in refrigerant gasses (F-gases). This has resulted in the seizure of nearly 800 tonnes of illegal F-gases.

The gases used in refrigeration equipment are often hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which replaced ozone-depleting substances. Whilst HFCs do not diminish the ozone layer, they are potent greenhouse gasses, which can lead to global warming.

To address this issue, the EU adopted a regulation in 2014 to reduce the amount of HFCs in the marketplace. Criminal networks created an illicit market for these gases in their bid to bypass the regulation.

OLAF supports cross-border investigations and works closely with national and international authorities passing on information and intelligence on suspicious shipments and operators.

In 2023, OLAF received the prestigious Montreal Protocol Award for Customs and Enforcement Officers an international recognition by the United Nations and the World Customs Organization of the work in targeting the illegal trade in climate damaging F-gases.

OLAF handled several such cases, including a case related to illicit import of patent-infringing fluorinated gases originating from China, which were illicitly imported to the EU. Another operation that took place in the Netherlands concerned a so-called ‘new generation gas’ known as Hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs). In cooperation with Dutch Customs, OLAF detected six containers of patent-infringing HFOs illegally imported and distributed in the EU.

OLAF also collected information related to unauthorised HFOs distributed on the Greek market and shared this information with the Interagency for Market Control - Hellenic Ministry of Development and Investments (DIMEA), which is responsible for enforcement and controls of Intellectual property infringements in Greece. Following this exchange of information a joint investigation action we carried out together with several Greek authorities: DIMEA, Customs and Police with the technical support of the right holder to locate some of the illegal F-gasses. As a result of this joint action, 15.6 tonnes of illicit refrigerant gases were seized.