Pakistan: US donates equipment to monitor trade of chemicals

Islamabad: The US Homeland Security Investigations office (HSI) has donated equipment as aid to Pakistan Customs in order to monitor the import and export of chemicals used both legally and illegally, media reported on Thursday.

The aid comprises 80 Toyota Hilux trucks, 160 body armour suits, five electronic hand-held chemical analysis units, cameras, binoculars, gloves and over 10,000 chemical test kits, Dawn online reported. With this technical help from the US, Pakistan Customs Service’s End Use Verification (EUV) project has formally been launched.

The EUV project will allow Pakistan Customs, a wing of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to safely facilitate the entry of dual-use chemicals being imported for legitimate purposes, and also aid them in investigating and preventing the entry of chemicals intended for use in improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

“The partnership between the Pakistan Customs Service and HSI is based on genuine respect and the sense of a shared mission to keep citizens of Pakistan, the United States, and countries around the world safer by preventing the illicit movement of dangerous chemicals,” US Ambassador Richard Olson said.

The EUV project consists of 80 Pakistani teams that will conduct verification checks countrywide. The World Customs Organisation has also adopted this EUV project as a model to be replicated by customs administrations around the world.

IANS