EU eyes Swiss system of tracking explosives

BRUSSELS, Aug 17 (Reuters) The Swiss system of tracking explosives with chemical markers could be adopted across Europe to strengthen the fight against terrorism, the European Commission said today.

British police said last week they had foiled a plot to blow up aircraft flying between Britain and the United States using liquid explosives.

Franco Frattini, vice president of the European Union's executive arm, wants to speed up examination of the Swiss system of tagging explosives, his spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing said.

''They have a pretty solid system that obliges producers to inform police of explosive materials which they produce, transport and store,'' Roscam Abbing told a news briefing.

''This could tremendously assist us in the detection and identification of potentially dangerous material,'' he said.

In Switzerland, each explosives manufacturer uses a single taggant code, a kind of chemical fingerprint, so that the origin of the explosive can be determined even after detonation.

Taggants can also help in finding hidden explosives by making them more easily detectable by dogs or specialised machines.

REUTERS PB ND1842