Detection and characterisation of threats or illegal/ smuggled goods in cargo

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes:

• Increased security of air, maritime, land, or postal transport, cargo and supply chain;
• Address accidental or intentional explosions, fires, noxious chemicals, material degradation, or autonomous threats in cargo;
• Enhanced capabilities to detect, characterise, track and trace, and seize dangerous, regulated, illicit devices, goods , or material;
• Increased mobility of the customs authorities’ resources and equipment and improved agility for a faster and more coordinated response;
• Interoperability of customs control equipment and interconnectivity with other systems, including integration of logistical operations, and/or increased inter-agency and cross border collaboration.

Scope:

Today’s global economy and high-volume trade flows require much and fast transport to deliver products worldwide. Traders and consumers expect quick and easy transactions, while customs administrations face the challenge of controlling the goods without disrupting their flow. This is exploited by organised crime and terrorist organisations, which take advantage of the large amount of goods to conceal threats or illegal and/or dangerous materials in legal commercial cargo, with the aim of causing damage, disruption, or of it illegally crossing borders unnoticed. Customs authorities must ensure a high level of compliance with both security and revenue objectives: trafficked materials may represent a threat, and undetected smuggled licit materials entering the EU deprive the Member States of the revenue due if the material had been legally traded. In addition, illegal trafficking can have an impact in the environment (such as biodiversity loss or deforestation) or for the EU citizens’ safety and health. The air and maritime cargo contexts present security challenges as well as high potential consequences of threats, primarily but not limited to explosives and incendiary devices. Air cargo can represent continuity assurances to cope, at least in the short term and for critical lines, with supply chain and/or distribution crises; while maritime cargo remains the most common transport mode in global trade. The risk for well-concealed materials not being detected during screening, or the risk of concealment during the supply chain is pressing. Logistical hubs also need to strengthen their capabilities to adapt to sudden changes, and customs authorities need to mobilise their available resources to ensure efficient and fast controls. The need for better mobility and improved agility for customs is accompanied by the need to deploy scalable solutions, that are interoperable with other systems to facilitate co-sharing of equipment between BCPs and between Member States. Innovation actions funded under this topic should develop and test solutions for cargo security, relevant to one or more transport modes (maritime, air, postal, road, or rail); and usable at one (or more) crucial point(s) of the supply chain. Innovation can also develop enhanced capabilities for customs to detect illicit, regulated and / or dangerous goods and transactions, and to be able to effectively characterise them in a timely manner. Improved tracking and tracing capabilities will facilitate the seizing of the materials while contributing to collecting data and evidence to further support investigations and prosecutions. Proposals are expected to address one of the following options that should be explicitly selected:

Option a: security of cargo

Option b: detection of smuggled and trafficked goods/materials in cargo

Detection capabilities should target one or more type(s) of dangerous, illicit and/or illegal goods or materials, including: explosive or incendiary devices; illicit drugs and their precursors; illegally traded species, including covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and considering the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products [1] ; illegally traded cultural property; contraband; trafficked weapons; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRN-E) material or precursors; F-gases; and/or various modi operandi related to cross-border trafficking, including involving cargo. Where the identification of illegal goods cannot be achieved without opening containers (for example, in the case of species or their parts), and where imagery, chemical, or molecular tests are required, appropriate measures should be established to reduce the response time between sampling and expert assessment, thereby minimizing disruption to the flow of goods. Examples of technologies and approaches that can be explored by the research actions include (non-prescriptive and non-exhaustive): smart active defuse systems, sensors, artificial intelligence, tracking and tracing systems, distributed ledger technologies, non-intrusive inspection, automated threat recognition systems, and screening and scanning systems. Equipment and technologies enabling increased security of cargo should contribute to cost and energy efficiency, limit their environmental impact and being more sustainable when they will be taken up in the future. An increased security of air cargo, furthermore, should not be regarded as an incentive to use air transport when this has a higher environmental and emissions impact, but prioritised on critical supply lines and/or situations. Proposals received under this topic should demonstrate how the project would integrate the perspective for the whole supply chain, from load to delivery. Proposed solutions should be interoperable with the different relevant equipment and systems deployed by the customs authorities. Proposals should demonstrate how their solutions would align with existing interoperability standards (if any), and consider issues of cybersecurity and EU technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy. Proposals submitted under this topic are expected to align with the customs reform (if adopted) and customs policy priorities, and the projects should, once started, align with the policy priorities of the proposed EU Customs Authority and its Data Hub (if established). Coordination among the successful proposals from this topic should be envisaged to avoid duplication and to exploit complementarities as well as opportunities for increased impact. To ensure the active involvement of and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment of the project’s mid-term outcomes, performed by the practitioners involved in the project. Research projects should consider, build on (if appropriate) and not duplicate previous research, including but not limited to research by other relevant EU Framework Programmes projects on security research. Proposals should delineate the plans for further development to subsequent TRLs as well as uptake (industrialisation, commercialisation, acquisition and/or deployment) at national and EU level, should the research deliver on its goals. The results of the research should be taken up by EU customs authorities with the support of the Customs Control Equipment Instrument (CCEI) and/or subsequent funding opportunities, or the proposed EU Customs Authority and its Data Hub (once established). Synergies within civil security can be an asset, for example with Better protect the EU and its citizens against Crime and Terrorism and Resilient Infrastructure. null Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

[1] https: //environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/forests/deforestation/regulation-deforestation-free-products_en

Submissions open on 05 May 2027.

Part of call HORIZON-CL3-2027-01

Type of action: HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Programme period: 2021 - 2027

Priorities: AI, DigitalAgenda

"> General conditions

1. Admissibility Con