This Thursday, authorities of Uruguay and Paraguayan they signed an agreement for the exchange of port information and images of container scans in the ports of both countries.
The minister of Inside, Luis Alberto Heberassured that At the beginning of 2024, the National Customs Directorate will have the capacity to scan up to 75% of the movement in the port of Montevideo from the acquisition of the 3 new scanners for 42 million dollars by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
For his part, Paraguay pledged to scan some 45,000 containers per yearout of a total of 100,000, whose main destination will be the European Union.
The three new scanners, two fixed and one mobile, will allow Customs to have a scope of control over three quarters of the merchandise that passes through the capital’s port terminal, where currently between 7% and 8% of them are scannedwith priority in national merchandise to ensure its traceability.
The customs of both countries must now adapt their computer systems and non-intrusive control for the future exchange of images online, as well as some other data obtained during cargo inspections.
“This means more controls so that we are not caught up in human error, intentional or not,” said Heber, who added that the exchange of images between the two countries of the mercosur It is “a breakthrough”.
Customs seeks to combat drug trafficking between the two countries
The Director of Customs, Jaime Borgianiremembered that the fight against drug trafficking is a policy of the national government and that the acquisition of new technology points in that direction. In turn, he stressed that the customs of both countries will not duplicate their tasks, but will complement their controls.
For Borgiani, the agreement makes it easier to have advance information on the loads, in order to adopt more accurate measures. In that line, Julio Fernandezhead of the National Customs Directorate of Paraguay, assured that these efforts will make it possible to combat organized crime, particularly the cocaine route.
Source: Ambito
