Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05AMMAN255
2005-01-11 11:32:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN TO EXPEDITE FOOD TRUCKS TO AND FROM IRAQ

Tags:  EAGR ELTN ETRD PREL ECON IZ JO 
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Natalie Brown 09/03/2007 06:23:57 PM From DB/Inbox: Search Results

Cable 
Text: 
 
 
UNCLAS AMMAN 00255

SIPDIS
CXAMMAN:
 ACTION: AMB
 INFO: DAO ECON DCM

DISSEMINATION: AMB /1
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: CDA:DHALE
DRAFTED: ECON:GLAWLESS
CLEARED: A/DCM:CHENZEL, ECON:REASON, HACC:ESBRENNAN

VZCZCAJI377
PP RUEHC RUCNRAQ RUEHGB RUEHRC RUCPDOC RUEATRS
RUEKJCS RHEHNSC RHMFISS RUCNDT RUEKJCS
DE RUEHAM #0255/01 0111132
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111132Z JAN 05
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8220
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0723
RUEHRC/FAS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY 0164
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0094
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000255 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

BAGHDAD FOR FAS JAMES SMITH, ANITA KATIAL
BAGHDAD FOR ECON JAMES BOUGHNER
BAGHDAD ALSO FOR USAID ROBERT PIERCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ELTN ETRD PREL ECON IZ JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN TO EXPEDITE FOOD TRUCKS TO AND FROM IRAQ

REF: A. 04 BAGHDAD 02299 (NOTAL)

B. 04 AMMAN 10012 (NOTAL)

C. BAGHDAD 62 (NOTAL)

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. FOR USG USE ONLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000255

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

BAGHDAD FOR FAS JAMES SMITH, ANITA KATIAL
BAGHDAD FOR ECON JAMES BOUGHNER
BAGHDAD ALSO FOR USAID ROBERT PIERCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ELTN ETRD PREL ECON IZ JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN TO EXPEDITE FOOD TRUCKS TO AND FROM IRAQ

REF: A. 04 BAGHDAD 02299 (NOTAL)

B. 04 AMMAN 10012 (NOTAL)

C. BAGHDAD 62 (NOTAL)

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. FOR USG USE ONLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordanian Customs officials confirmed
January 4 that they have begun expediting outbound food
trucks destined for Iraq under the Public Distribution System
(PDS). Customs Director General Mahmoud Quteishat said that
GOJ customs is prepared to implement a seven-day, 24-hour
clearance schedule for recognizable, empty food trucks
entering Jordan from Iraq to pick up more food. He urged his
Iraqi counterparts to quickly devise a system similar to that
formerly used by the World Food Program (WFP) to designate
such trucks for their quick entry into Jordan. Quteishat
also outlined fast-track, multiagency GOJ plans to turn the
entry of trucks from Iraq into Jordan to a 24/7 operation.
END SUMMARY.

Special Food Truck Lane Into Iraq
--------------


2. (SBU) Daman Fawaz, Customs Director at the Al Kerama
border station with Iraq (opposite Trebil) told Acting Econ/C
January 4 that PFD trucks with humanitarian food are moving
eastward through the old "WFP lane" without incident. He
emphasized that 100-200 food trucks are passing through the
special Al Kerama lane daily, that the process was proceeding
smoothly, and that not a single food truck was waiting on the
Jordanian side to pass into Iraq.


3. (SBU) Fawaz said that he understood Jordanian Minister
of Finance Mohammad Abu Hammour (who oversees Customs) has
decided to open the border checkpoint for all incoming
vehicles from Iraq around the clock (up to now, the 24-hour
service is only made available to passenger traffic from
Iraq). Currently, 100 percent of trucks coming in from Iraq
are screened (per Ref A) during the hours of 0730 to 1830, he
stated. He added that the Customs Department was already
working on securing the manpower and extra nighttime lighting
systems required to move to a 24-hour-a-day operation. Only
a single lane is currently lit at night on the incoming side,
he said. Fawaz stated that about 600-700 trucks were coming
through to Jordan from Iraq daily.


4. (SBU) In a call on Customs DG Quteishat, Acting Econ/C
thanked him for the GOJ's cooperation on PFD-related issues,
but emphasized the importance of continuing food shipments
transiting Jordan to Iraq on an expedited basis, including
accommodating the quick re-entry of empty food trucks to
continue their important missions. Quteishat confirmed that
an interagency security committee has been formed and had met
that day to move forward on plans for the capability to
receive trucks at all times at Al Kerama. This would
facilitate empty trucks coming in to obtain food from ships
at Aqaba, he said. A special committee will be going to Al
Kerama on January 5 to survey a new truck yard on the
incoming side, and outline needs for night-time lighting, he
said. Quteishat did not elaborate, saying only that the plan
would be completed "soon."

An Interim Solution for Entering Empty Food Trucks
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) Quteishat said that the GOJ would be willing
"tomorrow" to accept the 24-hour, fast-track entry of empty
Iraqi food trucks, provided that they were recognizable as
such. He recalled that under the UN Oil for Food Program,
WFP trucks had an identifiable sign placed in the windshield
at the border, that afforded them such expedited treatment.
Quteishat stressed that in order for this system to work
well, the Iraqi officials at the Trebil exit point would need
to "split off" empty PFD trucks into a fast lane.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: From our vantage point, the land
transport of PFD foods from Jordan into Iraq appears to be
operating well. Embassy believes GOJ Customs is fully
prepared to act on the commitments outlined here to expedite
the transit of food shipments to Iraq (including the re-entry
of empty food trucks into Jordan),provided that they can
obtain the appropriate response from their Iraqi
counterparts. If Iraqi officials are interested in pursuing
this course, they may wish to contact Customs DG Quteishat to
work out the modalities of the temporary system for entry of
empty food trucks. These measures, combined with more
effective traffic management on the Iraqi side of the border,
should significantly reduce the current problem of
20-kilometer queues of westbound trucking waiting to leave
Iraq, noted in Ref (A).


7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
HALE