WCO Programme Global Shield (PGS) accredited trainers from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan delivered PGS End User Verification (EUV) trainings to their colleagues in Pakistan in September 2014. The trainings were organized by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the US Department of Homeland Security based at the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, with the support of the WCO PGS.

During six two-day intensive training events, 136 frontline FBR Customs officers stationed in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore were trained. The participants acquired in-depth knowledge on dual-use explosive precursor chemicals that are targeted by the PGS and risk assessment and risk managements strategies that will help them to identify and deal with suspicious shipments. They also received firsthand experience with "FirstDefender" chemical detection devices.

Upon completion of the workshop, trained officers were placed into 68 two-person EUV Teams that will function according the Standard Operational Procedures co-developed by the FBR of Pakistan and HSI representatives from the US Embassy in Pakistan. The EUV Teams will facilitate the entry of legitimate dual use precursor chemicals, while also investigating any suspected imports that may be intended for the creation of IEDs. Trained officers stated that it is their obligation and duty as Customs officers to combat cross border illegal diversion of chemicals, and that now that they have the requisite knowledge, they are well-prepared and determined to be successful.

Conducted as a joint effort on the part of the WCO, the US HSI and the FBR Pakistan representatives, the End User Verification workshops in Pakistan were highly praised by participants and by the organizers as an effective way to train Customs personnel on dual-use capacity of explosive precursor chemicals and the global IED threat.