The $4 million Protective and Analytical Facility, officially opened yesterday, is said to be the first of its kind at border crossings around the world.

To determine if the chemical cargo is bona fide, immigration officers at the Tuas Checkpoint first draw samples from the consignment.

The chemicals are analysed in a laboratory in a two-storey building next to the cargo clearance area.

There is also a decontamination chamber for officers to wash themselves down if any chemical is spilled on them.

Since the facility started operating on Dec 1, all consignments of chemicals inspected have been 'consistent' with what was declared, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

The facility is sited at the Second Link as all vehicles carrying hazardous cargo and livestock have to use that crossing to enter the island from Malaysia.

About one million cargo consignments a year go through the checkpoint, of which 5 per cent are considered hazardous, such as corrosive chemicals for industrial use.

Immigration officers used to quarantine suspicious consignments and refer them to the various controlling authorities for further tests.

The trucks were either held at the checkpoint till tests were completed or in the case of dangerous substances, they would be turned away.

Ms Angie Wong, deputy commander of ground operations at the checkpoint, said that sending samples to a laboratory would take too long, holding up the lorry and choking the checkpoint.

'But now, we can confirm on the spot,' she added.

The laboratory, staffed by ICA officers and those from the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) Office of the Chief Science and Technology Officer, is stocked with equipment that can match the samples against an 'extensive library' of known chemical substances.

Biological agents that exhibit chemical markers - like ricin, a toxin that can cause victims to die of shock - can also be identified in this way.

An analysis can be done in as little as 15 minutes, said Dr Lee Fook Kay, the Chief Science and Technology Officer.

There are 15 chemicals, bomb-making ingredients such as ammonium nitrate, that raise the red flag here. They are hard to detect as they elude metal detectors and most vapour detectors.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, who officiated at the opening ceremony yesterday, described border checkpoints as 'the critical first line of defence of our national security'.

He noted that terrorists are getting more sophisticated, smuggling not just people and guns but also chemical, biological and radiological materials across borders.

In 2001, the authorities here foiled an Al-Qaeda/Jemaah Islamiah plot for truck bomb attacks in Singapore, just before several tonnes of TNT were to make their way here from the Philippines. Operatives had also been instructed to procure ammonium nitrate.

Mr Wong said that there might be more attempts to smuggle contraband in a recession. Last year, officers chalked up some 38,600 seizures of contraband items, 2 per cent more than in 2007.

'ICA should treat all smuggling activities as a security problem because if one can smuggle cigarettes, one can smuggle terrorist operatives or explosives into the country,' he said.

Additional reporting by Kimberly Spykerman