BENIN U.S. COAST GUARD ISPS COMPLIANCE TEAM VISIT CONCERNED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000944

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS)
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID EINV ETRD EWWT PGOV BN
SUBJECT: BENIN U.S. COAST GUARD ISPS COMPLIANCE TEAM VISIT CONCERNED
ABOUT PORT OF COTONOU

REF: COTONOU 744 and previous

COTONOU 00000944 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A four-man US Coast Guard delegation led by Mr.
Peyton Coleman visited Benin August 27-30, 2006 to assess the Port
of Cotonou's security and compliance with the International Shipping
and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The team's unofficial
findings are that the Port of Cotonou is currently not in
substantial compliance with ISPS standards. In addition to meeting
with the Minister of Transportation, the team and embassy personnel
met with officials of the Port of Cotonou (Port Autonome de Cotonou
- PAC) and the Ministry of Transportation's Department of the
Merchant Marine, which is charged with ISPS implementation. END
SUMMARY


Meetings with Minister, ISPS/Port Officials and Site Visit
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) The team met with a number of GOB ISPS and PAC officials,
and had a frank and open dialogue with GOB interlocutors. Minister
of Transportation, Mr. Alexandre Dossou commended the USCG's visit
as consistent with President Yayi's ambitious plans to make the Port
of Cotonou the most competitive port in West Africa. Dossou said
this goal cannot be achieved without proper security measures at
port facilities and underlined the GOB's commitment to emphasizing
improved security.


3. (SBU) The port's Director General, Mr. Christophe Aguessy, and
the Director of the Merchant Marine, Ms. Rahanatou Anki Dossou,
briefed the team on Benin's achievements since the ISPS code has
come into force. There have been a number of training sessions for
port stakeholders and personnel, an increase in the height of the
port's fences, efforts to improve access control to the port,
training of 25 security agents in Antwerp and Marseille, and the
selection of a Canadian consulting firm to develop security, improve
lighting, and construct a guard tower.


4. (SBU) After a good round of meetings with GOB and port officials,
the USCG team toured the port and found the situation on the ground
fell well short of both their expectations and ISPS standards. The
port is congested with trucks and little to no effort is being made
to restrict access to the port or otherwise mandate use of badges or
other forms of identification. Signage regarding security
conditions and access procedures is inadequate, the trees alongside
the port's fences pose an access risk, and the port holds no drills
nor security exercises on a regular basis.


5. (SBU) During the USCG team's visit, the port issued new
regulations to ease vehicle congestion within the port and to better
control landside access to the port by both vehicles and
individuals. The new measures, which went into effect on September
16, require trucks to spend no more than 48 hours at the port or pay
a fine of USD 970 (CFA 500,000) a day. All authorized port visitors
and persons employed at the port will be required to wear badges and
armbands or be denied access. Among the challenges the port faces at
present is financing the acquisition of radio, firefighting and
pollution control equipment, surveillance cameras, and other
high-tech equipment (Comment: Some of this equipment will be
provided by MCC funding under MCC's "Access to Markets" project,
worth nearly $170 million over five years, which is focused on the
port).

USCG's findings and recommendations
--------------


6. (SBU) Through question and answer sessions with the Port
Authority, Merchant Marine officials, the COMAN (MAERSK) terminal
manager, the Benin shippers association, and a site visit to the
port facilities, the USCG team has concluded that the Cotonou Port
Authority does not meet the minimum requirements of the ISPS code.
One glaring oversight was that the terminal manager COMAN (MAERSK)
was unaware there was a unified security plan for the port.


7. (SBU) The team did note some strong points in port security
practices, including separation of public fishing and commercial
port activities, segregation of the oil and LPG terminals from other
port facilities, and port officials' efforts (even if lacking) to
provide information and training about the ISPS code to port
stakeholders. The team invited the GOB/port officials it met to make
a reciprocal visit to a port in the U.S. to learn more about
American experiences in port security. (Comment: Senior PAC staff
visited the Port of Baltimore in February 2006 with MCC officials.)

COTONOU 00000944 002.2 OF 002




8. (SBU) Port Director Aguessey was sobered by the USCG team's
assessment of Cotonou's security standards. He said he looked
forward to receiving the final conclusions of the USCG's findings in
order to be more familiar with the Port's security flaws and to
prepare corrective actions.

BROWN