Basham tours Europe, Asia

Basham tours Europe, Asia Ralph Basham, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, visited Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and India this week to meet officials in those nations and review their border security measures, CBP said on its Web site.
   His trip culminated in Chennai, India, with meetings Dec. 5-7 of the World Customs Organization's Policy Commission, which is considering amending the framework of global security standards passed by the body in 2005.
   Basham met with German customs officials and federal police in Frankfurt on Dec. 2 and viewed their pilot program for using a biometric passport with an iris scan to clear customs.
   The following day the commissioner met with Customs' Container Security Initiative inspection team in Dubai.
   Basham met in Pakistan with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday. Aziz stated that true border security would only be accomplished by the elimination of corruption.