A/HRC/12/23 page 21 F. International cooperation 110. Thanks to the cooperation mechanisms developed by national police forces, child victims have been identified, sexual predators arrested and international networks dismantled. In 2007 Operation Carousel led to the arrest of 700 suspects in 35 countries, the confiscation of 76,000 images of children, and the identification of 31 of the children involved. 111. With a view to coordinating their efforts and making them more effective, a number of countries, in particular the industrialized countries, cooperate regularly with the Group of Eight (G-8), the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice , the Council of Europe, INTERPOL and Europol. 112. Discussions are under way among the United States, EUROJUST and Europol on the creation of an expert group. 113. National police authorities good cooperation with one another and with INTERPOL has facilitated increased training opportunities for police officers from many countries; exchange of information; creation of an image bank; numerous victim identification programmes; development of a child exploitation tracking system, etc. 114. The G-8 countries, in the context of their strategy against sexual exploitation of children on the Internet adopted in 2003 have made a commitment to collecting and exchanging information, cooperating with the private sector and NGOs, and expanding their efforts to countries not members of the G-8. 115. Regional cooperation efforts (in North America, Central and South America and Asia) are working relatively well. In the European Union cooperation among member countries focuses on harmonization of practices, development of expertise, funding of programmes and exchange of information. 116. The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), established in 2003, is an excellent example of international cooperation. Its objectives are to identify children, ascertain the whereabouts of and assist children at risk, and identify predators with a view to holding them to account for their actions. The VGT comprises the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre; INTERPOL; the Australian Federal Police NCECC; the United States Department of Homeland Security and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the Italian Postal and Communication Police Service.14 117. Bilateral and multilateral agreements facilitate reciprocal assistance between States. For example, in the context of its cooperation with South-East Asia, Australia has provided equipment and training for police in Thailand and Viet Nam. 14 http://www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com/.