Shanghai Customs are trialling modified security checks at the city’s two airports in a bid save passengers’ time and make customs clearance more efficient.

Customs said the new method is in useat Terminal 1 atHongqiaosince June and Terminal 2 at Pudong since August as a trial.

The luggage goes through machine security checks before being collected.

Suitcases suspected of illegal content will be attached with a customs mark and a speciallock to receive further checks.

By Monday, officers atHongqiaohad given early machine checks to more than 330,000 pieces of luggage from 2,002 flights, while at Pudong customs checked some 206,000 pieces from 1,415 flights.

During the trial, the customs clearance time for one flight had been cut from 40 minutes to just 15, raising efficiency by over 60 percent.

“The early machine checks are important practices of customs intelligent supervision and innovation,” said a customs official. “It raises supervision efficiency and provides great convenience to most passengers who obey the laws.”

The Hongqiao airport customs uncovered its largest rhinoceros horn smuggling case during the trial. Officers seized 30 pieces of rhinoceros horn and products valued at over 2.4 million yuan (US$336,530).