EXBS: SLOVAKIA ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000198 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NP/ECC - PVANSON, ACHURCH, JOHN COFFEY DEPT FOR EUR/ACE - DMARTIN CBP/INA FOR PWARKER, BPICKETT USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY DOC FOR PETERSEN-BEARD PRAGUE FOR MARK CANNING VIENNA FOR KENNY MACDONALD BUDAPEST FOR JEFFREY IZZO WARSAW FOR THOMAS YEAGER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP ETTC PREL LO SUBJECT: EXBS: SLOVAKIA ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE - FEBRUARY 2005 ¶1. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS. None. ¶2. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD. ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS DURING REPORTING PERIOD. ¶1. February 1, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor met with Mr. Paul Van Son, Director Department of State, Non- Proliferation Programs - Export Control Cooperation (NPP-ECC) and Mr. Jason McClellan from the same department, in Bratislava, Slovakia. Mr. Van Son advised that NPP-ECC is planning to close down the EXBS Office in Bratislava effective March 17, 2005, concurrent with the end of the current Advisor's PSC contract. Mr. Van Son told the U.S. Embassy's Charge d'Affaires that the EXBS Advisor who will soon be opening an office in Zagreb, Croatia, would then handle Slovakia's EXBS Program. The EXBS Advisor and Mr. Van Son also met with the Director, Slovak Border and Alien Police and the Deputy Director General of the Slovak Customs Directorate to update them on planned changes to the EXBS Program here in Slovakia. ¶2. February 6, 2005 - Slovakia EXBS Advisor traveled to Warsaw, Poland. The purpose of this trip was to accompany Mr. Cassady Craft and Mr. Blake Prichard from the Center for International Trade and Security, University of Georgia (CITS/UGA) in meetings with officials from various ministries of the Polish government. CITS/UGA has been contracted by the State Department (NPP-ECC) to conduct export control assessments of countries that receive EXBRS support. The EXBS Advisor accompanied the team in the role of Customs expert. ¶3. February 7, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor and CITS/UGA team met with the Director General of the Polish Customs Directorate, the Deputy Director of the Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Director and Deputy Director of the Export Control Department of the Ministry of Economy and three export policy experts (munitions) from the Military Intelligence Services, Ministry of Defense. These meetings were packed with information necessary for the CITS/UGA team to gain a better understanding of the export control procedures in place in Poland and for the team to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their program. The team also met with Witold Kowalczyk, Deputy head of the Customs Office at Warsaw's Okecie International Airport. There we toured the Air Cargo facility and learned how exports and strategic goods are processed in the airport environment. ¶4. February 8, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor and CITS/UGA team drove to the Port of Kuznica on the Polish border with Belarus. There we met with Dariusz Muszynski, Deputy Director of Bialystok Customs Chamber and the Director for the Kuznica border station. These gentlemen answered our questions regarding their handling of exports and strategic goods and then provided us with a tour of their border station. It should be noted that this station is only a little over one year old. It is a model port, with the most advanced equipment available in Poland. In fact, this border station is "state of the art" and is better designed and equipped than many border ports found in the United States. All passenger vehicles, buses and trucks entering/exiting the country must pass through portal monitors (gamma detectable only). This station's cargo facility has an import lot that will hold 80 trucks and an export lot that will hold 70 trucks. Each lot has its own enclosed truck inspection facility and its own stationary VACIS manufactured by "Heimann", a German company. The station has a security system that includes 150 digital cameras and a central control monitoring room. DVD recordings can be made from any of the 150 cameras and stored for a 30 day period. I would highly recommend that any CBP officials visiting Poland in an official capacity should add a trip to this border station to their itinerary. ¶5. February 9, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor and CITS/UGA team drove to the Port of Bezledy on the Polish border with Russia (Kalingrad District). Here the team met with Deputy Director Dariusz Postek of the Olsztyn Customs Chamber and the Director of the Bezledy border station. They gave us a very informative presentation on their border station and answered all of questions regarding export control procedures and strategic goods processing. This is the largest and busiest border station on the Polish/Russian border. About 90% of all traffic is outbound (export). For outbound trucks, only animals and perishables and strategic goods are cleared at the border station. All other exports are cleared at the inland Customs office. All strategic goods exportations require a 100% physical exam. Each border station has a Strategic Goods Coordinator and a team of well- trained inspectors for handling strategic goods. There are normally two strategic goods trained officers on each shift. This border station is in the beginning stages of a seventeen-month, $4 million process to rebuild, enlarge and up-grade the current station. The cargo facility has a VACIS manufactured by Heimann of Germany. All vehicles pass through portal monitors (gamma detectable only). ¶6. February 10, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor and CITS/UGA team visited the Gdansk seaport and met with Deputy Director of the Gdansk Customs Chamber Jaroslaw Lipski, Tomasz Wegiel, Head of Legal Organization Department of the Gdansk Customs Chamber, and several other Customs managers from the Gdansk Customs Chamber and the Gdansk Seaport. They gave us an excellent presentation on the activities and staffing of the Customs Chamber and the Gdansk Seaport. We also received an excellent presentation from the Strategic Goods and Dual Use Goods Coordinator. We then toured the seaport where we visited the Seaport Customs Office and met with the Seaport Director and his Deputy. They explained the paperwork flow for imports and exports and told about their computerized risk analysis system. ¶7. February 11, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor and CITS/UGA team visited the Gdynia seaport and met with Seaport Director Mieczyslaw Swarcewicz and several other members of his Customs staff. They provided us with excellent briefings on their seaport operations, statistics, staffing and procedures related to the export of strategic and dual use goods. We also received an excellent presentation on the automated cargo system used by Polish Customs called "CELINA" and their automated cargo transit system "ISTAR". We then met with Mr. Julian Karaszewski, Managing Director of Baltic Container Terminal (BCT),Gdynia. Mr. Karaszewski gave us a very interesting briefing on the BCT terminal layout, statistical data, and their cooperation shared with both the Polish Customs and Border Guards. ¶8. February 14, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor and EXBS Program Assistant spent the day working with Customs at Bratislava Airport. We learned how Slovak Customs processes air cargo entries, how their automated cargo data system (ASYCUDA ++) and risk analysis sub-system works, how their In- Transit system (ISHTAR) works, and how passengers (both arriving and departing) are processed by Customs. A full assessment report of this visit has been forwarded to CBP, INA headquarters. ¶9. February 17, 2005 - EXBS Advisor traveled to Budapest, Hungary to attended a media event with U.S. Ambassador George Walker. The purpose of the media event was to cover the donation of a new Mercedes-Benz X-Ray Autovan, from the EXBS Program to the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard. Ambassador Walker thanked the government of Hungary for the cooperation they have given the United States and congratulated the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard for their efforts to secure their country's borders. He then presented the key to the vehicle to Major General Dr. Jnos Nagy, Commissioner of the National Directorate of Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard. The event received excellent media coverage from local Television stations, radio stations and newspapers. ¶10. February 18-24, 2005 - The EXBS Advisor assisted the embassy staff during the POTUS visit by volunteering to serve in the Embassy Control Room. During this period the EXBS Advisor was also on- call as the Embassy Duty Officer. ¶11. February 28, 2005 - EXBS Advisor met with Mr. Roman Moravec, Head of the Division of Prohibitions, Restrictions and CAP, Customs Directorate, to discuss the upcoming visit of the DOE X-Ray Maintenance/Repair Team on March 9-11, ¶2005. Mr. Moravec has instructed members of the Control Division in Poprad, Slovakia to deliver the x-ray van to Bratislava on March 8, 2005, so that it can undergo its semi-annual maintenance. ¶B. TRAINING CONDUCTED DURING REPORTING PERIOD. None ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING REPORTING None. ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE. The DOE X-Ray Maintenance/Repair Team will be in Hungary March 5-7, Slovakia March 8-10 and the Czech Republic March 11-16, 2005. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY. None. ¶3. RED FLAG ISSUES. None. Questions regarding this report can be directed to Larry Adkins, EXBS Senior Advisor, at AmEmbassy Bratislava at telephone no.: 421-2-5922-3375, fax: 421- 2-5922-3497 or through email at adkinslh@state.gov. THAYER NNNN