Activities of the Transnational Threats Department 2.4 TNTD/Border Security and Management Unit Introduction The OSCE Secretariat, through the Border Security and Management Unit of the Transnational Threats Department (TNTD/BSMU), supports and assists the OSCE Chairmanship, executive structures, field operations and institutions in their efforts to promote open and secure borders as elaborated in the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept (BSMC) (MC.DOC/2/05) adopted in Ljubljana in December 2005. In 2018, the OSCE Border Security and Management National Focal Points (BSM NFP) Network contributed to the exchange of information and co-operation between border security and management services of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation. TNTD/BSMU interactions with a number of international and regional actors, such as Frontex, INTERPOL, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNODC, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and OSCE field operations, also contributed to dialogue and co-operation between participating States and Partners for Co-operation in the Mediterranean region. TNTD/BSMU continued to maintain the BSM NFP Network, along with providing training and capacitybuilding activities to border security and management services of participating States and Partners for Co-operation. Furthermore, TNTD/BSMU provided front-line officers with training on detecting forgery of travel documents, and introduced and promoted API and PNR systems. Activities Related to Threats Posed by Criminal Activity Cross-Border Co-operation in Criminal Matters In 2018, in order to better address the cross-border movement of FTFs, TNTD/BSMU organized six deployment missions of the OSCE MTT delivering specialized on-site training courses to the first and second line border officers. The officers were trained on how to better identify and interview potential FTFs, in full compliance with international human rights standards at entry and exit border check points of OSCE participating States. At these on-site training sessions, over 200 border guards were trained on how to identify forged documents distributed in Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine. Each of the border guards participating in the training sessions was provided with a set of special magnifying glasses to identify forged travel documents. The training sessions included a wide range of subjects, including the regional and international legal framework, risk analysis and management, travel document security, interviewing techniques, the use of databases and watchlists, as well as intra-agency co-operation mechanisms for the identification of potential FTFs. These activities supplemented TNTD/BSMU’s efforts to prevent the movement of FTFs in line with UNSCR 2178 (2014) and UNSCR 2396 (2017), as well as OSCE MC.DEC/6/16 on Enhancing the Use of Advance Passenger Information (API). An API system allows law enforcement authorities to receive information about travellers before their arrival in a country, making it an effective tool in countering terrorism and organized crime. In 2018, the TNTD/BSMU organized ten national API workshops in Central Asia, South Caucasus and SouthEastern Europe. These workshops gathered 330 local experts on aviation security (including police and customs officers, intelligence services, civil aviation authority representatives and airport authorities) involved in passenger processing, as well as ICT service providers, donors and international experts, with the goal of drafting an official roadmap for establishing an API system in each country. Additionally, an "OSCE- wide Seminar on Passenger Data Exchange”, the second of its kind, was organized in Vienna in November, bringing together over 120 experts to discuss good practices in implementing both API and PNR systems, and 29