RFID Seals Provide Border Security in Eastern Europe

This system's focus, explains Anthony Dublino, Hi-G-Tek's managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Asia, is on sealing a truck's cargo doors at one border, then ensuring there has been no tampering to the seal when it is removed at the other, rather than tracking the truck on the highway. The company installed the RFID system about 18 months ago, he says, and has been expanding it since then. As with Kazakhstan, most cargo arrives from China, while empty trucks return from the west. Hi-G-Tek—which, Auerbach says, almost always works with local integrators—is partnering with INTA, a Lithuanian system integrator.

Micha Auerbach

The Lithuania Customs Authority (LCA) is using the system at eight border crossings—four on the Russian border (near Kaliningrad), and four on the border of Belarus. As in Kazakhstan, a truck's doors are fitted with an RFID e-seal as the vehicle passes through customs, and data is stored on the seal's tag using a handheld reader transmitting at 125 kHz.

If a truck is stored for any length of time in the border-crossing yard or terminal, a tilt-and-motion sensor function in the seal is activated. Thus, if anyone attempts to remove the truck's cargo door or cut a hole in it, the sensor detects the seal's movement and an alert is sent to Hi-G-Tek readers deployed in the area.

Anthony Dublino

If something appears suspicious about a truck after it leaves a terminal, customs agents patrolling the highways in cars can pull over that vehicle. These officials carry Hi-G-Tek handheld interrogators and can scan the RFID seal to determine what cargo is in the truck and where it is destined, as well as the driver's identity.

Once the truck reaches its final destination, the tag is read again with a handheld reader, to confirm the vehicle was not opened before the seal is removed and reused. All data is stored in an Oracle database using INTO software. The Lithuanian customs deployment has been growing, Dublino says, as the agency becomes accustomed with the system.

"They started with high-value or sensitive cargo," Dublino says, including chemical or nuclear-related cargo. The next step has been securing trailers that open on top and are secured with a tarp over the cargo. Such shipments, which typically carry products such as cigarettes, are vulnerable to theft, since the tarps can be opened and reclosed without detection.

The customs agency is presently securing the tarps with a cable, joining together the two ends of the cable by means of a Hi-G-Tek RFID seal. The agency is using about 36 handheld readers to read seals.