Singapore-based anti-piracy agency ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) and International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) have formalised their cooperation by signing a Cooperation Agreement on Nov. 8. The signing ceremony took place at the 81st INTERPOL General Assembly held in Rome, Italy.According to a Press release, the Cooperation Agreement records a mutual understanding on joint cooperation in the area of information exchanges and mutual support; and establishes a platform for future collaboration.
It was signed by Mr. Yoshihisa Endo, Executive Director of the ReCAAP ISC, and Mr. Ronald K. Noble, Secretary General of INTERPOL.
The ReCAAP ISC, launched in Singapore in 2006, had signed similar cooperative arrangements in 2007 with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Asian Ship owners’ Forum (ASF), the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) and International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO).
These are in addition to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that ReCAAP ISC signed with the Republic of Singapore Navy’s Information Fusion Centre (IFC) and the three regional information sharing centres set up under the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC).
Recognising that transnational crime cannot be tackled in isolation, such partnerships are essential to tackle challenges in common areas. “Cooperative Arrangement, being one of the three pillars of ReCAAP, allows a variety of organisations to collaborate and cooperate with the ReCAAP ISC in sharing information and participate in our capacity building programmes. Having INTERPOL being our partner organisation is a boost in furthering closer collaboration between the Asian Initiative to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia and the law enforcement agencies.” said Mr. Endo.
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