Now they insist that their procedures and intelligence have led to tightening up of controls, with better international cooperation, encouraged by the World Customs Union, and X-ray scanners to search cargo.

BBC: Lab bids to combat species smuggling

These included: the Ministry of Culture, the State Economic and Trade Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and IT, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

ENGADGET: China's complicated history with video games: when a ban isn't really a ban

Though Kazakhstan takes part in a customs union with Russia and is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security pact that includes both Russia and China, its largest trade partner is the European Union.

WSJ: Ian Bremmer on Pivot States

On April 22 and 23, some 300 Y2K experts and senior officials from member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum met in Singapore to review the region's readiness in finance, telecommunications, transport, customs and energy.

CNN: Page 4