Goods controls at border to ramp up

Security drive on frontier trade

- POST REPORTERS

The cabinet has approved a draft ministerial regulation designating certain border areas as controlled zones for goods, aimed at strengthening national security and curbing transnational crime.

The resolution, passed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, endorses a Defence Ministry announcement under the 1981 executive decree on border goods control, which empowers authorities to declare specific border areas or maritime zones as controlled areas when necessary to prevent threats to national security or public order.

The Defence Ministry said certain goods sold in border areas may end up benefiting individuals or groups considered a threat to national security, making tighter controls necessary.