Outreach
Year 2025
PARSEC News Issue 3
Brussels, Belgium
Feb 2025
This issue highlights PARSEC’s key activities in advancing security and detection innovation. The project co-organized the inaugural Detection Hub Workshop in Madrid on December 13, 2024, gathering experts from law enforcement, research, and technology sectors. Martin Palmer (Hurricane Modular Commerce) and Trevor Francis (UK Border Force) shared insights on detection strategies and procurement innovation.
The completion of Deliverable D4.2 showcased a prototype multi-energy photon counting detector, improving contraband detection in postal flows. PARSEC Coordinator Frank Janssens also joined a CustomsClear webinar to discuss security challenges in e-commerce.
Looking ahead, PARSEC will co-organize the second Detection Hub meeting in Riga on June 17-18, 2025, featuring panels and a border technology demonstration.
Year 2024
17th International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference
Willemstad, Curaçao
23 – 25 September 2024
The theme of this year's conference was Reducing the Harm and was co-hosted by INTERPOL, the Government of Curaçao and its partner, the Curinde Free Trade Zone in Partnership with UL Standards & Engagement.
Frank Janssens, Managing Director of CBRA Services and coordinator of PARSEC, featured in the panel session entitled Overcoming End-to-End Challenges with the eCommerce Trade, which was facilitated by Mr Steven Shapiro, Supervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
You can read more about the conference and see the full programme at www.iipcic.org/conference.php
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CERIS Workshop on Innovation for e-commerce security and countering illicit transactions
Brussels, Belgium
11 July 2024
The PARSEC Coordinator CBS, in collaboration with CBRA partner, presented the project's mid-term outcomes to an audience that included customs and law enforcement practitioners, as well as innovators and policy makers. The event focussed on the security for fighting illicit trafficking and criminal activities in the flow of goods and services across the external borders of the European Union, including the security of e-commerce, financial transactions, and/or the circumvention of sanctions.
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Article published on NTCA’s intranet and public website
01 July 2024
​Project partner the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary has published an article about the PARSEC project on its intranet site.
The article is entitled ‘Advanced X-ray technologies at the service of the express postal supply chain’ and introduces the PARSEC project to all NTCA staff. The article also includes summaries of some of the consortium meetings held during the first half of the project.
For further information about NTCA and its wider work, please visit https://nav.gov.hu/en.
Penday June 2024, the monthly online seminar by H2020 PEN-CP.
Online
10 Jun 2024
PARSEC-project was presented by partner UK Border Force to an audience of over 40 participants, around 2/3 being PEN-CP customs officers. The title of the presentation was “PARSEC - Parcel and Letter Security for Postal and Express Courier Flows -project - mid-way updates (after 18 months)”.
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Digital Government Society EGOV-CeDEM-ePART 2024
Conference, KU Leuven NL,
3rd – 5th September 2024
PARSEC has had a poster presentation accepted for the upcoming eGov conference in Leuven, the Netherlands on 03-05 September 2024.
‘A High-Level Framework for Business and Government Requirements Analysis of Detection Technology for Postal and Parcel eCommerce Flows.’ The paper was written and submitted by consortium partners Boriana Rukanova of Delft University of Technology, NL with equal contributions from: Sharon Sap of Customs Administration of the Netherlands; Stefan Bijvoets of Customs Administration of the Netherlands; Juha Hintsa of CBRA Services, BG; Toni Männistö of Cross-border Research Association, CH; and Yao-Hua Tan of Delft University of Technology, NL.
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To read the paper, please visit https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3737/paper53.pdf
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List of all papers, workshops and poster presentations
Issue 1 2024 of WCO RILO ECE Herald newsletter
01 July 2024
The World Customs Organisation (WCO) RILO Eastern and Central Europe has just published the latest issue of its Herald newsletter.
This issue introduces the new WCO Secretary general, Mr Ian Saunders, who took up his post on 01 January 2024. This issue has a report on the growth in the number of seizures reported by Member States 2020-2023. Interesting news items and articles include: container control in Bosnia and Herzegovina; cross-border crimes in Moldova; a WCO visit to Montenegro as part of the TENTACLE project; cocaine smuggling in RILO ECE countries. Reports are given of some of the recent key RILO meetings. Some of the interesting seizures made by Customs authorities complete this issue of Herald.
This issue will soon be available on the WCO website at https://www.wcoomd.org/en.aspx
TAPA EMEA Conference ‘2024 – A Year Like No Other’
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
12-13 Jun 2024
The TAPA EMEA 2024 event in Amsterdam serves as a platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and advancing standards in supply chain security across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The event included: networking opportunities, educational sessions, showcasing technology and solutions, certification updates and policy discussions.
PARSEC partner TAPA distributed approximately 100 project leaflets to the event participants.
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CERIS FCT Workshop on illicit drugs: challenges and opportunities for introducing innovative and science-based approaches
Brussels, Belgium
21 Feb 2024
The Fight against Crime and Terrorism (FCT) workshop was organized by the EC DG Home. The programme addressed recent EU policy developments on drugs and the coming change of mandate of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
Partner UKBF presented the PARSEC project in panel 3: Detecting drugs in cargo and in persons. UKBF also handed out 50 PARSEC leaflets at the event registration desk.
Year 2023
UNCTAD eWeek
Geneva, Switzerland
4 Dec 2023
Partner CBR gave a presentation in the thematic panel session on Leveraging data for securing cross-border e-commerce parcel traffic. The PARSEC project was introduced to the audience, which was represented by all sides of the stakeholder spectrum - UN organizations, government, civil society and academia. The participants came together to debate the best path to take to shape an inclusive and sustainable digital economy.
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The 30th Anniversary of the Establishment of the WCO RILO ECE - World Customs Organization, Regional Intelligence Liaison Office, Eastern and Central Europe
Warsaw, Poland
14-15 Nov 2023
Partner UKBF presented on innovative aspects of PARSEC project, and linkages to PEN-CP customs innovation network. In addition, some 60 leaflets were handed out by partner CBR. (on-site and online: total over 1000 registered participants).
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Parcel+Post Expo 2023
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
24 - 26 Oct, 2023
The 2023 Parcel+Post Expo was attended by over 220 leading industry businesses. The Expo, with the focus on future technologies, solutions and services for the parcel delivery, e-commerce logistics and postal industries, attracted leaders and CEOs from national postal operators world-wide to the ‘UPU World Leaders Forum’. CBR distributed 25 leaflets and met key stakeholders and participants, discussing how to strengthen the detection of illicit goods in national and international postal and parcel services.
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The World Customs Organization Technology Conference 2023 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam - “Embracing the Digital Age: Leveraging Technology, Fostering Innovation, and Nurturing the Next Generation of Customs Professionals”
Hà Ná»™i, Viet Nam
10 -12 Oct 2023
Partner UKBF presented on innovative aspects of PARSEC project, and linkages to PEN-CP customs innovation network. In addition, some 60 leaflets were handed out by partner CBR. (on-site and online: total over 1000 registered participants).
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WCO-UPU Global Conference, specifically Session 4 “Cross-border e-commerce in postal items-what data work and how it can be utilized?”
Tokyo, Japan
6-8 Jun 2023
PARSEC was promoted (by partner CBR) during the PEN-CP presentation on the annual study “Customs Innovations for Fighting Fraud and Trafficking in Cross-border Parcel Flows”. And, some 30 leaflets were handed to the event participants.
RISE-SD 2023, EU Research and Innovation show in the field of Civil Protection & Defense
Rhodes, Greece
29-31 May 2023
First, PARSEC had it´s own booth at the event exhibition area, where visitors were briefed about the project, its objectives, innovation ambitions etc. Second, PARSEC Coordinator (CBS) delivered a slide show during one of the presentation sessions at the event. Third, some 200 PARSEC leaflets were included in the event bags, handed to all participants when they first arrived at the event.
International Transport and Logistics Corridor Conference: Development Impulses from Zangilan
Baku, Azerbaijan
16-17 Nov 2023
The event was hosted by the Office of the Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ASCCA), the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This high-level conference attracted many speakers from the CIS, Asia, Russian and European region. Partner CBR distributed 40 PARSEC leaflets to the event participants.
CEPOL course “Drug Trafficking Methods - Mail and Postal Parcels”
The Hague, the Netherlands
9 Nov 2023
The event was organized by CEPOL, the EU agency dedicated to implement, develop and coordinate training for law enforcement officials. Partner CBS delivered a PARSEC presentation during the CEPOL training course session to 30 participants from 26 EU countries and four from non-EU countries (Law Enforcement, Customs, Judicial partners, Mail & Parcel Companies)
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Security Research Event (SRE) - “Societal transformations, climate change and digitalisation – a new paradigm of Security Research?”
Brussels, Belgium
24 - 25 Oct 2023
The 2023 edition of the Security Research Event featured:
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Two days of Conferences with thematic sessions;
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Exhibition presenting projects, their achievements, and small-scale demonstrations;
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The Security Innovation Award Ceremony.
Partner CBS presented the PARSEC project to the SRE participants. PARSEC has been included in the brochure, which provided an overview of all the projects funded under the CL3 Secure Societies Call 2021. This brochure was available to the participants at the SRE event.
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INCB - 3rd international expert group meeting on expanding International Narcotics Control Board lists of dangerous substances with no known legitimate use and novel approaches for their identification in falsified or illicitly manufactured pharmaceuticals - closed door event
Vienna, Austria
21 Sep 2023
A team of six experts from PARSEC (UKBF, DYN, HALO, CBR, CBS) and PEN-CP projects delivered a 1 hour 45 minute session titled “Two European research and innovation projects bridging Customs and Pharma sectors in the fight against illicit trade: PARSEC for detection and material identification and PEN-CP for innovation boosting partnership”
In addition, PARSEC leaflets were handed to all participants (a pack of 50 leaflets total).
Projects to Policy Seminar (PPS), co-organised by DG HOME and REA
Brussels, Belgium
14-15 Jun 2023
PARSEC project overview was presented by the Coordinator (CBS) during the breakout session dedicated to Border Management projects. Plus, table at the Border Management dedicated booth was used to pass 60 PARSEC leaflets to the PPS event participants.
PHARMAP 2023, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Packaging Congress
Geneva, Switzerland
12-13 Jun 2023
PARSEC (partner CBR) delivered a joint presentation with PEN-CP: “Fighting trade in illicit medicines through technological innovation and cooperation between customs and the pharmaceutical industry.”
And, 80 PARSEC leaflets were made available for over 250 pharmaceutical sector professionals (by partner UNIL).
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Advancing Research and Innovation in Security with Horizon Europe - hybrid event organised by the Euresearch Network Office
Lausanne, Switzerland
6 Jun 2023
PARSEC was showcased (by partner CBS) as an example of “EU Horizon RDI projects, where industry and academia work closely with customs, police and postal end-users”.
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Year 2022
EU High-level Customs Risk Management event - during CZ PRES the High-Level Seminar focused on the area of risk management and risk analysis
Czech Republic
24-26 Oct 2022
50 PARSEC leaflets handed out to all participants, primarily intelligence and risk management directors across all Member States (by partner-CBR expert)