Dutch Customs Host Information Event for IRBA Members

January 28, Amsterdam/Schiphol - the Dutch customs hosted members of the CIOPORA Crop Section Cut Rose/IRBA, including DeRuiter, Dümmen Orange, Kordes, and Meilland, at a half-day information event on Customs procedures and Customs IP enforcement.

Starting with a presentation on the Customs' data-based approach to the imported goods controls and culminating in a full tour of the Customs' Schiphol facilities, the event provided plant breeders with a complete overview of the Customs' operations in the airport.

In the course of the morning, the breeders visited the Customs' scanning facilities, where, at the time, a consignment of cut roses from Colombia and Ecuador was processed. Several Customs officers greeted the IRBA group at their respective workplaces, explaining their tasks and procedures as to e.g. data selection, physical checks of suspicious goods, consignment scanning, joint field work with the Police, and anti-counterfeit activities.

At the last station of the tour, the breeders met the Customs' IPR specialists, who held a presentation on the identification of IPR infringing goods. The discussion addressed the identification of unauthorized flower shipments as opposed to other counterfeit goods and the need for specialized knowledge for plant identification. The Customs officers invited breeders to assist them with information on plants in order to increase the effectiveness of the Customs controls.

The event took place in the framework of the ongoing joint enforcement activities 2019 conducted by the IRBA members. On behalf of CIOPORA, Micaela Filippo and Anna Kaehne attended the meeting.

The photo report:

A flower consignment from Colombia and Ecuador is being unloaded on the tarmac

The IRBA group at the Customs facilities for physical controls

Customs officer demonstrates the "best of" contrabanda packaging

The cut flowers consignment from South America in transit between the plane and the scanning facility

The goods enter the scanning facility

A rose consignment as it appears on the monitor of the controlling Customs officer. The contents of the scanned boxes must correspond to goods declarations/manifests.

The Customs officers of the scanning facility are trained to recognize various types of goods on the scanned pictures. The scans are assigned randomly among officers on duty to exclude any bias.

A presentation by the IPR control group