Joint Announcement of INTERPOL and the United States of America on Cooperation to Combat the Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear and Radiological Material

INTERPOL and the United States of America have confirmed a shared commitment to efforts to promote practical measures to counter nuclear and radiological smuggling.  INTERPOL’s Project Geiger Database and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Incident and Trafficking Database indicate that nuclear and radioactive materials continue to be encountered out of regulatory control. 

The United States applauds INTERPOL’s continued commitment to build awareness and capacity of law enforcement to combat smuggling in nuclear and radiological materials and are pleased to announce the results of the INTERPOL hosted “Global Counter Nuclear Smuggling Conference,” sponsored by the United States Department of Energy which was held in Lyon, France on January 27-29, 2016. 

In support of the commitments outlined in the Nuclear Security Summit Communiqués and Work Plan, the “Global Counter Nuclear Smuggling Conference focused on five subject areas key to INTERPOL’s role in combatting radiological and nuclear trafficking; information sharing, capacity building, support to investigations and operations, security of material, and prosecuting radiological and nuclear smugglers.  It additionally included a number of case studies to illustrate the reality of nuclear and radiological smuggling and a demonstration of radiation detection and identification equipment available to support investigations. 

This conference gave law enforcement professionals the opportunity to strengthen relationships with their international counterparts and to conduct counter nuclear smuggling operations and opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the nuclear smuggling challenge. 

Furthermore, the parties are pleased with the joint efforts to offer counter nuclear smuggling training programs in the form of regional workshops and cross-border exercises and remain committed to implementing these and other training activities. 

INTERPOL and the United States of America attach importance to the Nuclear Security Summit process and stress the importance of continuing efforts and ongoing collaboration to strengthen law enforcement capacity to prevent, detect, and interdict trafficking in nuclear and radiological materials.   Outcomes from the conference drawn from the input of participating countries will contribute to the Nuclear Security Summit Action Plan; which will be issued by world leaders and heads of international organizations at the 2016 Washington DC Nuclear Security Summit.