GERMANY DENIES EXPORT LICENSE FOR SUSPECTED STOLEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 003325 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN, PM, AND EUR/AGS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2016 TAGS: ETTC MASS PARM GM SUBJECT: GERMANY DENIES EXPORT LICENSE FOR SUSPECTED STOLEN U.S. MILITARY VEHICLES REF: A. BERLIN 3093 ¶B. BERLIN 2662 Classified By: Counselor for Economic Affairs Douglas B. Neumann, for r easons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) Please see action request in paragraph 4. ¶2. (C) Global Affairs officer met German MFA Export Control Division Desk Officer Andreas Kauke November 14 to discuss ref case of two German auto dealers trying to export suspected stolen U.S. military HMMWVs. As noted in ref B, Eble 4X4 Restaurationen, located in Lahr, Germany, applied for a license from the Federal Economic and Export Licensing Agency (BAFA) to export an M1097 HMMWV and an M1026 HMMWV to Switzerland, while Wagener Import-Export, located in Taucha, Germany, applied for a license to export two M1025s to the United Kingdom (Note: Ref A erroneously reported that Eble planned to export four HMMWVs, but Kauke clarified that Eble had only two in its possession. End Note.) Kauke reported that BAFA granted a license to Eble to export the M1097 HMMWV to Switzerland, in part because the U.S. Department of Commerce, which controls this type of unarmored HMMWV on its Commodity Control List, had already granted a license to Eble to export it. In the case of Eble's M1026, which is armored and controlled on the U.S. Munitions List (USML) as well as the Wassenaar Arrangement Munitions List (WAML),BAFA requested more information from Eble before granting an export license. (Note: Eble listed the vehicle as an M1025, which is also armored and controlled on the USML and the WAML; however, U.S. officials who inspected the vehicle October 4 determined that it was an M1026. End Note.) In addition, BAFA requested information from Wagener about the two M1025s that it planned to export, Kauke said. Neither firm provided the requested information to BAFA, according to Kauke. Based on the firms' refusal to respond, BAFA denied an export license to Eble for its M1026 and Wagener for its two M1025s, Kauke said. BAFA notified the Federal Office of Customs Investigations (ZKA) about the license denial. Kauke said that if the two auto dealers tried to ship the vehicles abroad, the ZKA would stop the export and take legal action against the violators. ¶3. (C) Kauke had no information about what the two firms intended to do with the HMMWVs. He said he would check on the means that the government could use to prevent the sale of these vehicles within Germany. ¶4. (C) Action Request: Kauke requested additional information to substantiate the U.S. charge that these four HMMWVs had been stolen from USG inventories. TIMKEN JR