Malaysia has allowed the United States to station customs officials at its key port of Klang to jointly screen US-bound container cargo for terror risks, the US customs service said today.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C Bonner and Abdul Halil Abdul Mutalib, director-general of Malaysian customs, announced the implementation of the US-Malaysia Container Security Initiative (CSI) at the port.

CBP and Malaysia, a major trading partner of the United States, signed an agreement to participate in the CSI on Jan 20 last year.

"The primary purpose of CSI is to protect the global trading system and the trade lanes between CSI ports and the US. By implementing CSI, the government of Malaysia is helping to make a safer, more secure world trading system," Bonner said.

Potential terrorist risk

Malaysian customs officials are responsible for examining any container identified jointly with CBP officers as a potential terrorist risk, the CBP said in a statement.

Port Klang is the 18th CSI port to become operational since CSI was proposed in January 2002.

Mainly-Muslim Malaysia has had no terrorist attacks on its own soil, but is holding more than 90 alleged Islamic militants, many suspected of membership in the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah regional organisation. - AFP