European Commission DG HOME has commissioned a team of GHK and IB Consultancy to conduct two studies related to the implementation of the EU CBRN Action Plan.
In order to protect EU citizens from CBRN threats the EU adopted in 2009 the CBRN Action Plan. One of the main areas of work of the Action Plan is to prevent the misuse of CBRN materials. In the ‘Stocktaking study on good practices on reporting of suspicious transactions in relation to CBRN materials’, the team of GHK and IB Consultancy in cooperation with Mr. Robert Whalley, aims to contribute to the Action Plan by, firstly, providing an overview of existing regulations and practices in the area of reporting on suspicious transactions in the EU Member States; secondly, by providing an overview used to identify suspicious CBRN transactions and behaviour; and, thirdly, by identifying good practices, both by country and by sector, and to derive lessons learned for both the Member States and the EU. The three above mentioned objectives may be completed with a fourth one: to issue concrete proposals or recommendations for action, concerning mainly the EU level.
Another major goal of the Action Plan is to enhance control over high-risk CBRN materials. Regarding the chemical industry, the majority of EU measures focus on the safety rather than on the security aspect of the threat posed by high-risk chemicals. The ‘Study on the availability of high-risk chemicals to the general public and in particular on the specific risks associated with trade chemicals over the internet’ will therefore aim to address the need to explore the current practices regarding the availability of high-risk chemicals to the general public, in particular trade practices over the internet and on this basis, identify the potential security gaps in the supply chain and make recommendations for improving them.
The main focus of the study’s approach will be to investigate, through collecting and accessing relevant evidence, current practices (particularly trade practices over the internet) concerning the availability of certain high-risk chemicals to the general public and identify potential security gaps in accessing such materials on international-, EU-, and national level and on the level of industry best practices.
Both projects start in December 2011 and will run for 10 months.