ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa and US Ambassador Richard Olson have jointly launched Pakistan Customs Service’s End Use Verification (EUV) project, which will help Customs monitor chemicals that are used both legally and illegally. This launch has also provided an opportunity to the Pakistan Customs Service and the United States Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) to strengthen partnership.
Speaking at the launch of the EUV project, Ambassador Olson stated, “The partnership between the Pakistan Customs Service and HSI is based on mutual respect and the sense of a shared mission to keep citizens of Pakistan, the United States, and other countries around the world safer by preventing the illicit movement of dangerous chemicals.”
The EUV project will allow Pakistan Customs, a wing of the FBR, to safely facilitate the entry of dual-use chemicals being imported for legitimate purposes, while also investigate and prevent the entry of chemicals intended to be used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The EUV project consists of 80 Pakistani teams that will conduct verification checks countrywide. To bolster the effectiveness of the EUV program and help ensure it’s a long lasting effort, the United States has donated 80 trucks, 160 body armour suits, over 10,000 chemical test kits, five electronic hand-held chemical analysis units, cameras, binoculars and gloves to the Pakistan Customs.
The EUV project has already garnered attention outside Pakistan, with Pakistan Customs recognised as a trendsetter in preventing the illicit movement of dual-use chemicals used in IEDs. The World Customs Organisation has adopted this EUV project as the model to be replicated by customs administrations around the world.
The EUV project demonstrates how much can be achieved as a result of partnerships based on respect and the sense of a shared mission—in this case, between Pakistan Customs and United States HSI to keep citizens from Pakistan and other countries safer by preventing the illicit movement of dangerous chemicals.
