British Company Invents Way To Stop Illegal Imports

Although it's being used to detect illegal shipments of meat into the United Kingdom, Cargo Images' communications software has some promising capabilities, according to the BBC.

In Britain, thousands of tons of "bush meat" are illegally flown into the country every year. In a country where hoof-in-mouth and Mad Cow disease have set off panics in recent years, that's a big plus.

The idea is to send X-ray images of luggage and freight from a flight's point of origin to the destination airport. That way, customs inspectors could have up to several hours to see what's coming.

Mike Lamb, managing director of the company that paid for Cargo Images' R&D, told the BBC that the system has already undergone successful testing.

"Our process is great news for British farmers and the government who may still fear a repeat of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, which cost the country millions and was traced to an illegal meat import," he said. "The technology enables the identification of a wide range of items which are of interest to international governments and conservation groups. I really do feel that this system can make a difference and make the world a safer place."

The significant breakthrough made by Cargo Images' hi-tech process is that it enables every piece of hold luggage and cargo in the aircraft to be examined by HM Customs & Excise officers in the UK, or equivalent in other countries, hours before the aircraft arrives.

If the contents appear to be suspicious, a sophisticated handheld laser scanner zaps and identifies the suspect case at the arrival airport - and it can then be manually inspected with the owner.

The Cargo Images detection system has undergone discrete trials between an overseas airport and the UK where it has proved a great success, with 36,000 bags were inspected.

Lamb believes that after five years of development, the system is now ready to be installed on major international air routes which are major sources of the bushmeat smuggling trade.

"Our process is great news for British farmers and the Government who may still fear a repeat of the foot & mouth epidemic which cost the country millions and was traced to an illegal meat import," he said.

FMI: www.advantagewm.co.uk