Islamabad | November 13, 2014
U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson joined Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa to mark the launch of the Pakistan Customs Service’s End Use Verification (EUV) project, which will help Customs monitor chemicals that are used both legally and illegally. This launch also provided an opportunity to commemorate the partnership between Pakistan Customs Services and the United States Homeland Security Investigations Office (HSI).
Speaking at the launch of the Pakistan Customs’ EUV project, Ambassador Olson stated, “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.”
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 investigating and preventing the entry of chemicals intended for use 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 Toyota Hilux trucks, 160 body armor suits, over 10,000 chemical test kits, five electronic hand-held chemical analysis units, cameras, binoculars and gloves to Pakistan Customs.
The EUV project has already garnered attention outside Pakistan, with Pakistan Customs recognized as a trendsetter in preventing the illicit movement of dual-use chemicals used to build IEDs. The World Customs Organization 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.
