Abu Dhabi, CBP partner on cargo security

Abu Dhabi, CBP partner on cargo security    Abu Dhabi will station a customs official at the National Targeting Center for cargo outside Washington as part of an exchange program to help identify suspicious shipments and inspect them, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday.
      A CBP officer will be assigned to the Abu Dhabi General Administration of Customs under the agreement signed by the two agencies on April 20.
   The liaison officers will facilitate the exchange of information and speed up enforcement decision-making, CBP said.
   Representatives from Japan, Mexico and the European Union already reside at the NTC under an international fellowship program designed to increase cooperation on cargo security and educate other customs administrations about how to use technology for risk-based determinations.
   Officers at the NTC use a sophisticated computer system to analyze information from importers, carriers and customs documents, as well as intelligence, to determine whether a cargo box should undergo further inspection. They also receive remote video feeds to observe container inspections by Pakistan Customs at the Port of Qasim. In ports where a bilateral agreement is in place, CBP officers can request their foreign counterparts to conduct an X-ray exam of a container.