Within the field of security, Customs and Border inspection have not had breakthrough technological developments in the last 20 years, since the introduction of X-ray screening. The limits of these current technologies are accentuated by the increasing diversity and novelty in trafficking materials, tools and methods. These limitations combined with the growing needs of inspection and control call for a disruptive innovative solution. Wanting to move a step up from the existing planar scanning methods with limited material identification results, several studies have identified potential solutions focused on: - High energy 3D X-ray tomography - Neutron interrogation/photofission - Nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRR) While these show good results and performances, they also have several important drawbacks, which limits their possible uses. Moreover, these solutions do not have common technological bricks meaning they can only lead to separate disposals. The proposed MULTISCAN3D investigates a new all-in-one system whose purpose is to become simultaneously a user-friendly, flexible, relocatable solution offering high-quality information for: - Fast high energy 3D X-rays tomography (as first line) - Neutron interrogation/photofission (as second line) - Narrow gamma ray beam based NRR (as second line) MULTISCAN3D will start by investigating and defining needs and requirements, in a technologically-neutral way, with Europe’s most prominent Customs Authorities which will be translated to technical specifications. The main body of the research will be focused on three parts, following which, lab validations and real-environment demonstration will be carried out. These three work areas are: - Laser-plasma based accelerators as X-ray sources - 3D reconstruction for multi-view configurations and data processing - Detectors and source monitoring At the same time complementary techniques with chemical and SNM identification capabilities will be investigated.

Security and fraud in cross-border trade and supply chains are key priorities for the EU customs administrations due to the increasing risk of transnational crime and terrorism and the e-commerce-driven growth of customs declarations. Hence, EU customs administrations have to rapidly increase their capability to search for more accurate data sources to better assess these risks and increase their inspection hit rate. To address this challenge, PROFILE seeks to accelerate the uptake of state-of-the-art data analytics and incorporation of new data sources for more effective and efficient European customs risk management. The project provides tailored solutions, that build on modern methods in machine learning, graph-based analytics, and natural language processing, to help targeting officers and strategic analysts to collect and organise unstructured data, data-mine large datasets, apply semi-supervised machine learning that utilises feedback of control results, and to visualize complex data sets. PROFILE enables customs-to-customs systematic sharing of Entry Summary Declarations and other risk-relevant information through the EU-wide PROFILE Risk Data Sharing Architecture (RDSA). The project also connects national customs risk management systems to logistics Big Data of INTTRA and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and provides customs an improved access to online data, especially valuation-relevant data of e-commerce sites. PROFILE also strengthens cooperation and data exchange among customs and other competent authorities. Better access to data, customised state-of-the-art data analytics, and stronger cooperation will provide the customs an enhanced 360º view on cross-border cargo flows. With PROFILE solutions, customs administration can increase substantially the hit rate of inspections and their capacity to cope with transnational crime, terrorism, and the dramatic e-commerce-driven growth of customs declarations.

Safe and legal global transport is essential to human welfare, but it demands that customs authorities implement security regulations with a special focus on illicit goods. To enable enforcement of regulations tackling illicit goods trafficking, customs authorities have expressed their need for portable, affordable, non-intrusive, reliable screening technologies aiming to facilitate on-site and rapid inspections. The current technologies are mainly based on X-ray screening, but have its limitations in detecting illicit goods, are very expensive and the process is time consuming. This makes that currently less than 5% of the containers may be inspected, which is undesirable for customs authorities and society. In the METEOR project, the consortium will develop a prototype of a portable and versatile air sampling-based screening system. This will enable customs administrations worldwide to rapidly and reliably inspect for the presence of illicit goods. The METEOR technology will provide a new concept of cargo screening detector with a highly efficient air sampling technique and the ion mobility multidetector sensing technology. The METEOR analyser relies on a very innovative concept of a multi-detector differential mobility analyser (DMA), that classifies molecular ions based upon their electrical mobility. This generates a chemical fingerprint of the samples, and after the processing with non-targeted screening techniques, it is possible to accurately classify and detect the threats. The focus will be on the detection of illicit drugs, but also explosives and other substances. The goal is to develop the METEOR technology up to TRL7, and validate it in the operational environment. This is done by the four customs administrations (The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Ireland) involved in the project, that cover some of the main ports in Europe.