Efficient NII (non-intrusive inspection) of containerised freight is critical to trade and society. Freight containers are potential means for smuggling (e.g. tobacco), illegal immigration, trafficking of drugs, mis-declared goods and dangerous illicit substances, including explosives, nuclear material, chemical and biological warfare agents and radioactively contaminated goods. One inspection NII technology cannot cope with all these targets. The C-BORD Toolbox and Framework will address all these targets and enable customs to deploy comprehensive cost-effective container NII solutions to potentially protect all EU sea- and land-borders, satisfying a large range of container NII needs. The C-BORD Toolbox will include 5 complementary innovative detection technologies: delivering improved X-rays, Target Neutron Interrogation, Photofission, Sniffing and Passive Detection. User interfaces and data will be integrated to optimise effectiveness and efficiency of end-users and systems. The C-BORD Framework will help customs analyse their needs, design integrated solutions, and optimise the container inspection chain; it will address detection levels, false alarm levels, throughput, health & safety, logistics and cost & benefits. C-BORD will increase the probability of finding illicit or dangerous content with at least equal throughput of containers per time unit, reduce the need for costly, time-consuming and dangerous manual container inspections by customs officials, and in case a container is opened, increase the probability of finding illicit materials. C-BORD involves stakeholders from 8 EU countries, as partners (5) and advisory group members (3). On 3 custom sites integrated solutions will be trialled, respectively addressing the needs of big seaports, small seaports and mobile land-borders. To optimise sustainable impact, C-BORD will actively engage with a large community, will support policy implementation, evolution and start early exploitation planning.

PARSEC is a project about parcel and letter security in the context of postal and express courier services. The project delivers an ambitious set of solutions by developing, configuring, customising, and piloting innovative tools, services and security management views to fight the abuse of postal and express courier flows for criminal and terrorist purposes. The four PARSEC innovation areas and three use cases strengthen risk analysis and redefine threat detection and resilience capabilities of parcel service providers, customs authorities, police agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. PARSEC develops and tests three next-generation non-intrusive detection technologies (multi-energy photon counting detector, neutron-induced gamma-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction) and combine them into a detection architecture (= system-of-system) for optimal detection accuracy, speed and reliability. With PARSEC solutions postal and express operators, customs, and police authorities will be more capable to fight crime and terrorism, put in place a stronger deterrent, and to ensure safe and undisrupted postal and express services.

Pan-European Network of Customs Practitioners (PEN-CP) project builds a network between distinct customs administrations to create an ecosystem for interoperability, knowledge sharing and innovation to improve European security though more efficient control of the illicit trade flows. Organized collaboration across customs organizations forms a platform for excellence in customs practices and their continuous improvement through the means of technology, regulatory changes and organisational restructuring. The project complements the fundamental objective to improve the security of people, businesses and institutions in modern society through technological innovations, collaboration with police, border guards and private operators. The project evolves through orchestrated collaborative activities to build confidence and trust among the customs administrations leading to transparent information sharing and social build-up of common norms and values. The created network effect is a precursor for innovation and continuous improvement to battle against the plethora of criminal acts the societies are facing. Despite common aims different customs organizations operate and are being managed in different ways. Strong country specific traditions and national focus have prevented the natural evolution and improvement of customs operations to mitigate the risks hidden in global trade flows. PEN-CP enables cross-fertilization of ideas, working procedures and technological experimenting beyond the existing practises. A social network of practitioners from the same field with heterogeneous backgrounds is the source of creative thinking and progress, which the project aims to unleash for common good. Like any social network the impact is scalable to all operators in the customs realm, thus the project and its results will have an impact to all customs administrations, including the ones not partnering the PEN-CP project.

EU customs administrations implement common rules at the EU Customs Union borders. They protect society while facilitating legitimate trade. Alongside the collection of duties and taxes, customs core activities now include security related roles including fighting illegal trade in drugs, weapons, radioactive and nuclear materials, security sensitive dual-use items, illicit waste and other environmental threats. To deal with high volumes of goods moving across the Union`s borders, and the need to restrict physical interventions to a minimum, customs operate a risk-based, multi-level detection architecture at Border Crossing Points. This must take into account the nature of the operational environment, the threat materials to be detected, and the types of concealments used by smugglers. For more than two decades, customs have used X-ray scanning as a first level control. However, current applications of this technology continue to result in a relatively high level of false positives/negatives and inconclusive results, giving rise to secondary controls, including physical inspections. This can be attributed in part to a failure to develop operator skills through accredited training and sharing of images of threat materials and concealments in a structured manner. Moreover, second level technology controls such as Raman spectroscopy are frequently applied with a narrow focus. The EU Customs Control Equipment Instrument aims to harmonize customs controls at the EU borders and to upgrade customs equipment including X-ray scanners and field analysis devices. BORDERLINK aims to make a significant contribution to CCEI aims as well as the planned reform of the Customs Union. BORDERLINK will enhance customs` capabilities and performance at EU borders by advancing the detection and identification of threat materials, improving training, communication and data sharing. It will help to strengthen supply chain controls and promote the Green Customs Initiative.