2004 Press Releases

U.S. Embassy Donates an X-Ray Scanner to the Turkmen Customs Service

July 19, 2004

 The U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan donated an X-Ray scanner to the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan on July 15, 2004, within the Export Control and Border Security (EXBS) Program. Embassy EXBS Advisor Mr. Michael Kirk officially handed over the HI-SCAN 100100V X-ray scanner, manufactured by the German company Heimann Systems GmbH, to Mr. Rakhman Jumayev, the Head of the Serhedabat Customs Check Point, where the equipment was installed. The X-Ray machine comes with a one year extended maintenance warranty by Wlibor Systems, a Russian company, an authorized distributor of Heimann equipment. After the equipment was installed, a Wlibor Systems engineer conducted a short training seminar for eight officers of the Serhedabat Customs Check Point. During the training, Turkmen customs officers tested the X-ray machine by using it for an actual screening of baggage belonging to an Afghan citizen, who was crossing the border at the Serhedabat Customs Check Point.

The HI-SCAN 100100V X-ray scanner is specifically designed to meet the needs and applications of airports, customs facilities, transportation operations, carriers, parcel services and warehouses to screen oversized packages without any loss of X-ray image quality. It offers technologically advanced security solutions to detect and identify explosives, chemical & biological agents, weapons and contraband.

EXBS is an ongoing U.S. Government program supplying equipment and training to assist in increasing the effectiveness of border security, designed particularly to deter the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Its function is to stop the transit of WMD and related items by attempting to halt these items in countries as close to the source as possible. Countries participating in this program benefit by using the equipment and training provided to secure their own borders. Equipment and training to stop the transfer of WMD and related materials can also be used to prevent trafficking in narcotics and persons, and smuggling goods to avoid taxation.