Hong Kong Customs chiefs are to buy a hi-tech system to screen shipping containers for nuclear and chemical materials used in the production of weapons of mass destruction.
The move comes as tension mounts in the region over the threat posed by North Korea's decision to reactivate its nuclear programme.
A top SAR Customs official described it as a step to 'enhance our capability to detect nuclear bombs and other radioactive substances'.
But officials have declined to say if they are acting on intelligence information that such materials may be shipped through Hong Kong - the world's busiest container port.
The purchase is part of the SAR's bid to comply with requirements of the US-led Container Security Initiative (CSI), which will see a special team of five US Customs officers stationed in Hong Kong early next year as part of Washington's war on terrorism.
On September 23, Hong Kong and US Customs signed a Declaration of Principles which allowed unprecedented collaboration between the two jurisdictions on counter-terrorism.