DUSHANBE, April 1, Asia-Plus —
On March 31, the US Ambassador, Tracey Ann Jacobson and Gurez Zaripov, Chairman of the Customs Service of Tajikistan, attended a hand-over ceremony at Customs Service Headquarters in Dushanbe.
According the US embassy in Dushanbe, Ambassador Jacobson and Chairman Zaripov signed grant documents conveying a Rapiscan mobile X-ray van and high-intensity, rechargeable flashlights on behalf of the U.S. government’s Export Control and Related Border Security program (EXBS).
The equipment grant, valued at $229,000, was provided by EXBS as part of their continuing efforts to provide equipment and training to the Customs Service. EXBS has a long history of cooperation with the Customs Service of Tajikistan and this grant is but one example.
The Rapiscan mobile X-ray van is a completely self-contained mobile X-ray screening facility for baggage and parcel inspections. Mobile systems reduce costs by enabling X-ray screening at many locations with one investment. Security is improved with the ability to rapidly deploy to different ports to conduct screening without prior notice. This X-ray system will conduct the usual checks known at airports and others to determine if radioactive sources are present. Initial training has been provided by Rapiscan, a company well-known in Tajikistan for its x-ray equipment that is being installed at the Nijny Panj bridge and is at the airports.
At the ceremony Ambassador Jacobson stressed that the United States “appreciates the opportunity to work with the Customs Service as part of the international effort to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
