KUWAIT: (Left) Dr Mohamed Ismail Al-Ansari, Chairman and CEO of Global Clearinghouse Systems and Paul Baker, Managing Director, Smiths Detection upon signing the agreement.

KUWAIT: The Kuwait General Administration of Customs (KGAC) announced that it will be implementing state of the art screening equipment through Global Clearinghouse System (GCS) in an effort to further strengthen security and speed up commercial activities at the various ports of entry into Kuwait. This new equipment will be procured from Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and screening technologies for military, transportation, homeland security, and resilience applications, owned by the UK based Smith's Group.

This is a part of several customs modernization programs that GCS currently manages for the Kuwait General Administration of Customs (KGAC) under a 25 year, Built Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract GCS manages for KGAC. The contract is currently in its tenth year.

At a signing ceremony held at the British Embassy in Kuwait to formalize the agreement, Khaled Al-Saif, General Manager, KGAC highlighted, "We are always grateful for the strategic support provided by GCS in our modernization programs. When we wanted to further boost security in our operations, GCS worked with us to review all available options. We decided to go ahead with Smiths Detection because it provides us with a complete solution to our varied requirements."

Latest technologies

Dr Mohamed Ismail Al-Ansari, Chairman and CEO of GCS said: "We are pleased to be working with Smiths Detection Inc on implementing the latest equipment and technologies for the KGAC. GCS has been working with KGAC for the last ten years to continually raise the levels of security at all the ports of entry into Kuwait. Now, with this new equipment, the first of its kind in Kuwait definitely aims to raise the bar higher by providing increased levels of security and faster movement of goods at all the major land borders as well as sea and airports in the Kuwait."

Abdullah Al-Mesbah, Managing Director of GCS said: "The new equipment includes two types of cargo scanners (mobile and gantry) implemented at the land and sea ports, state of the art X-ray dual view package scanners at Kuwait International Airport and vehicle scanners for civilian cars at Kuwait's land borders. This set of equipment utilizes the latest security technology and will be implemented for the first time in the country; He added that the new equipment from SDI follows a full body X-ray scanner recently installed by GCS at Kuwait International Airport and at the Shuwaikh Port.

Key market

Paul Baker, Managing Director from Smiths Detection Inc added: "Kuwait is a key focus market for Smiths Detection and we are delighted to establish a new long term strategic relationship with the Kuwait General Administration of Customs. Smiths Detection is a global leader in developing technologically advanced security inspection systems that are designed to easily adapt to our customers' needs while helping them optimize security checks at ports, airports, and border crossings. The combined Smiths Detection solutions of cargo, baggage and car screening systems that will be deployed across Kuwaiti ports, borders and airports will help customs officials meet the challenge of rapid detection without delaying daily flow of goods."

The official ceremony held in the presence of Matthew Lodge, Her Majesty's Ambassador to Kuwait, and was also attended by Tarek Sultan, CEO, Agility, along with other officials from the KGAC including, Osama Al-Roomi, Faisal Al-Qidheebi, Sulaiman Al-Fahad, and Sheikh Faisal Al-Sabah.