Dubai Customs brings in customised x-ray scanning system

Dubai customs

Dubai Customs has installed  “a first-of-its-kind advanced system in the world” for inspecting heavy and light vehicles, equipment, and yachts through X-ray scanning at the Jebel Ali and TECOM Customs Centre, as per a statement on state news agency WAM.

The new scanning system will enhance inspection operations and accelerate clearance procedures, said the emirate’s customs clearance authority.  The installation has been designed to meet Dubai Customs’ requirements, allowing it to scan vehicles and heavy equipment with maximum dimensions of 5.9 metres by 5.5 metres.

Dubai Customs gets future-ready

Ahmed Mahboub Musabih, director-general of Dubai Customs and ceo of the Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation, highlighted the advanced design and said the scanning system would support business operations by doubling inspection numbers. The new equipment would also expedite the inspection of heavy and light vehicles and the large equipment used in various construction and industrial sectors.

The system operates in two modes: stationary (gantry) mode, where the vehicle is stationary and mobile mode, where the vehicle is scanned while passing through the device. The scanning equipment has the capability to detect and identify radioactive materials, determine location, identify customs declarations through container numbers, and remotely control image analysis.

Adel Al Suwaidi, director of the technical support department at Dubai Customs, stated, “The advanced system enhances the security operations in Dubai and the UAE, increasing border control, and developing supporting devices and equipment. This ensures that Dubai remains one of the safest cities globally.”

He added, “Acquiring this unique system is a significant step towards affirming Dubai Customs’ strategy in leading secure customs operations worldwide, given its exceptional capability to detect the contents of vehicles, containers, and heavy equipment, as well as identifying prohibited and restricted materials.”

Dubai Customs had announced after the completion of the first quarter of 2023 the authority had received 5.7 million declarations in the first quarter of 2023. Inspection appointment requests increased to 176,000, a 16.5 per cent increase compared to 151,000 requests in the first quarter of the previous year.

During the first quarter of this year, the completion rate of transactions through digital channels reached 100 per cent.

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— جمارك دبي | Dubai Customs (@DubaiCustoms) May 25, 2023

In the past year, Jebel Ali Customs Centre and DP World completed 208,900 inspection operations for commercial shipments and executed 326 customs seizures. The Jebel Ali Port plays a significant role in serving the Arabian Gulf, Indian subcontinent, and African countries. As one of the largest ports in the Middle East, it can accommodate roll-on-roll-off (ro-ro), container ships, bulk vessels, general cargo vessels and tankers