Malaysia and the United States are expected to agree by year-end to implement a container security initiative programme proposed by Washington aimed to boost its port security following the Sept 11 terror attacks, an official said Tuesday.

"The process had entered the final stage . Malaysian customs is waiting for its US counterparts to ink the agreement," the official Bernama news agency quoted a source as saying.

US custom official are expected to visit Malaysia next week to brief their Malaysian counterparts on the new security programme, it said.

The initiative was developed by the US Customs in the aftermath of the terror attacks in 2001.

Looking for WMD and bombs

The US department of homeland security, customs and border protection had implemented the programme at major ports worldwide.

Under the programme, US officials would be deployed to work with Malaysian customs to target high risk cargo containers and ensure they do not contain weapons of mass destruction and bombs.

The official said Malaysia stood to gain with the security collaboration with the US since containers bound from Malaysian ports to the US ports would not be held up.

"It's very good for us to participate in the programme so that our containers can be easily accepted into the US," the official said.

As the world's 17th largest trading nation, Malaysia exports and imports goods worth more than RM300 billion annually, and more than 90 percent of that is moved by sea. - AFP