3020/2025/WEB 'Illegal F-Gas trade'

Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-Gases) are widely used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and industrial applications, yet their environmental impact and high global warming potential make their illegal trade a serious concern. The illicit market for F-Gases undermines climate policies, distorts legal markets, and often involves sophisticated criminal networks that exploit regulatory loopholes and weaknesses in enforcement. The illegal trade takes many forms, including false customs declarations, quota circumvention, straightforward smuggling, transit fraud, the use of disposable cylinders that violate safety standards, and unauthorized online sales. This webinar brings together enforcement experts, policy professionals, and operational practitioners to showcase investigative practices from the Netherlands and Portugal.

Over the course of this session, participants will engage in a detailed discussion on the most pressing challenges faced in controlling the import, transit, and export of F-Gases under Regulation (EU) 2024/573. Topics include intelligence sources, investigative methods, and case examples illustrating joint operations. We will explore how front companies and fake end-users are used to conceal illegal activities, and how intelligence-led approaches and coordinated investigations can improve detection and enforcement. Operational examples will be shared to highlight successful tactics and to expose the gaps that allow illegal trade to persist.

The webinar will also cover best practices and common obstacles in customs enforcement, including the need for stronger cooperation with third countries and the importance of international information exchange. By presenting real-world case studies and intelligence-led operational strategies, this webinar aims to strengthen cross-border collaboration and provide practical tools for participants involved in the fight against illegal F-Gas trade. 

EMPACT training activity
 

Combating new forms of organised crime requires more cooperation between police and gendarmes, customs officers, border guards, judges, and prosecutors. EU institutions, agencies and Member States work together to tackle organised and serious international crime through a permanent and key instrument: the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

CEPOL plays a crucial role in the EMPACT mechanism through the provision of specialised training and the identification of training needs within each common security threat. Every year, CEPOL provides a comprehensive training package for each common EU crime priority consisting of onsite, online and exchange training activities.

Check more of CEPOL's EMPACT training activities here.