2014-07-18

FIMA upgrades plate recognition system for Customs Department

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FIMA has signed a contract with the Customs Department of the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance on the modernisation of a Recognition System for Vehicle Registration Plates and Container Codes (NAS).

As part of the project, FIMA will introduce autonomous plate recognition posts at three border crossing points and will integrate them with the existing NAS in addition to expanding NAS at the customs post at Klaipėda Seaport.

Plate recognition software integrated with NAS will also be installed in customs vehicles. This will help customs staff to monitor vehicles more efficiently and to respond to alerts more rapidly. The software will be installed in 13 customs vehicles.

State-of-the-art video cameras selected by FIMA will be used to film both front and rear vehicle registration plates. An ISS application integrated with the video cameras will scan the registration identifiers on vehicle plates. NAS will deliver a scanning efficiency of 95 per cent because it will even be able to scan the registration plates of speeding vehicles on sections of road that it monitors.

The software installed by FIMA will compare the scanned plates with a list of suspicious ones. Once a suspicious plate is identified, the application will automatically alert customs officers. This will ensure the highest efficiency when it comes to identifying the registration plates of all vehicles including ones that are speeding.

Lithuania’s EU external land border stretches for 1,070 km and covers 60 per cent of its entire border. Frontier protection is one the country’s strategic priorities. The project will help to ensure control of vehicles and containers crossing the state border and to fight crime and fraud which are damaging to the wider European Union (EU), i.e. illegal migration, smuggling, etc.

NAS will ensure safe and efficient freight movement across the EU’s external borders and Lithuania’s entire customs area building on the opportunities brought by advanced information technologies.

During the project, FIMA’s specialists will also train staff of the Customs Department in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda in using the upgraded system.