The Asia Pacific Security Project of the World Customs Organization (WCO) handed over Raman Spectrometer handheld detection devices to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh in a ceremony held at the NBR Conference Room, Dhaka on 10 September 2018. The donation of the devices was enabled by funding from the Government of Japan.

Prior to the Handover Ceremony, the devices were tested as per specifications agreed between the WCO and the supplier. The NBR Member responsible for Modernization and International Affairs Khondokar Muhammad Aminur Rahman, was the Chief Guest at the ceremony and received the devices on behalf of the NBR. The Commissioners of Custom Houses in Dhaka and the director General Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate attended and spoke during the ceremony.

In his remarks, Member Rahman expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the WCO and Government of Japan for supporting NBR with this high-tech equipment. He stressed that with the inclusion of Raman Spectrometers, NBR’s capacity against illicit movement of precursor chemicals for explosives and drugs will be strengthened.

After the Acceptance Test and Handover Ceremony, hands on training for the safety features and handling of the devices was conducted at the same venue. About 25 (twenty five) frontline Customs officials actively took part in the session which was facilitated by the representative of the supplier.

The devices will be predominantly used for NBR’s fight against transnational terrorism and movement of precursor chemicals that are and believed to be used in manufacturing the IEDs.

The Asia Pacific Security Project is supporting WCO members in the Asia/Pacific region to bolster their border security capacity through the WCO initiatives: Programme Global Shield; Passenger Controls; and Air Cargo Security against Small Arms and Light Weapons.