A national project aimed at combating the financing of terrorism and tracking the movement of terrorists will be launched today (Tuesday) with the support of World Customs Organisation (WCO).
Home, commerce and civil aviation ministries and the customs authorities under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) will jointly implement the project with technical support from the Japanese government.
A high-powered delegation of the WCO, led by its Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya, is now in Dhaka to attend the launching ceremony of the 'WCO security project' to be held at a city hotel. The NBR held a meeting with the four-member WCO mission on Monday in preparation for the launching ceremony of the project.
The Japanese government would provide technical know-how through the WCO to build capacity for the project activities.
Officials said the WCO agreed to provide support to the government to ensure border security through addressing possible challenges, enhancing the capacity of customs administration and introducing advanced system for getting passengers' detailed information.
Under the project, the Programme Global Shield (PGS) would be used to prevent entry of chemicals or devices intended to be used in Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), they said.
The project will also check smuggling of small arms and light weapons (SALW) by terrorists.
To assess the risk of passengers, the project would help get Advance Passenger Information (API) and use Passenger Name Records (PNR).
The project would help combat terrorism financing through monitoring and unearthing illegal overseas businesses and cases of money laundering.
A senior customs official said movement of passengers through customs ports can be tracked with advance information. So, terrorists can easily be traced using this system, he added.
The project would focus on the country's need for reducing availability and use of SALW and checking smuggling of weapons in the international supply chain.
The WCO, which has 182 member countries across the world, has initiated the 'WCO security programme' for its member countries in the Asia-pacific region to help the customs administrations to combat terrorism financing and ensure border security.
It agreed to provide support to Bangladesh in seven areas under Marcator programme.  
After the terror attacks in Bangladesh and Indonesia in 2016, it has become important to monitor the movement of foreign terrorists in international airports, officials said.
This initiative would also ensure international trade security alongside strengthening the border security, they added.
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Source: The Financial Express