On 8-12 June 2026, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, in close co-ordination with the Conflict Prevention Center/Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC), together with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the German Bundeswehr Verification Centre (BwVC), INTERPOL, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), delivered a training course on "Combating Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), Conventional Ammunition and Explosives" for 20 officers of Border Service of National Security Committee of and the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan in Almaty. The course followed an earlier session held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and forms part of a broader regional effort to strengthen border and customs capacities across Central Asia.
The course aimed to strengthen the host country's capacities to prevent and respond to transnational threats linked to the proliferation and trafficking of firearms, ammunition, and explosives, and to enhance co-operation between border, customs, and other relevant law enforcement agencies. By bringing together international expertise and national border and customs officers, the course advances these objectives in practice.
At the centre of the course was the Frontex Handbook on Firearms for Border Guards and Customs, presented in its international, non-EU version. A Frontex expert introduced the agency's mandate and experience in countering firearms and ammunition trafficking at the EU's external borders, the development and practical use of the Handbook, complemented by a hands-on practical exercise. Building on this foundation, BwVC trainers delivered a dedicated Small Arms and Ammunition Field Identification and Tracing module, covering SALW control, threat awareness, technical fundamentals, and identification and documentation of weapons, parts, and markings. An INTERPOL specialist shared the organization's investigative, tracing, and ballistics tools, while a UNODC trainer addressed the international legal framework and the global dimensions of firearms trafficking, including its gender aspects.
"These threats are transnational and respect no borders," said Jaroslaw Kurek, Project Manager. "Addressing them requires the same thing this course has built: professionalism, continuous learning, and close co-operation between agencies and across countries".
This course marks the beginning of a planned cycle of training courses for Kazakhstan's border and customs services. Priority in this first session was given to officers expected to participate in future training-of-trainers (ToT) activities, with a view to enabling national experts to further disseminate knowledge on SALW identification and post-seizure record-keeping, intelligence sharing, and tracing across the wider workforce.
As a tangible outcome of the training, 42 copies of the Frontex Handbooks - in the Kazakh language - were provided to the Border Service of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Border Service Academy, and the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ensuring that participating institutions retain a lasting reference tool to support their daily operational work and future training activities. "By handing over these Handbooks today, we are leaving behind more than a manual", said Frederic Clement, Project Officer of the FSC Projects Unit. "We are leaving behind a shared standard that border guards and customs officers can rely on long after this course has ended", he added.
Through this continued engagement, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, together with Frontex, BwVC, INTERPOL, and UNODC, reaffirms its commitment to strengthening the capacities of Kazakhstan's border and customs services, supporting interagency and international cooperation, and contributing to safety and security across the Central Asian region.
The training course complements the objectives of the Office's extrabudgetary project "Addressing Contemporary Safety and Security Risks in the Republic of Kazakhstan".
