COAST GUARD GIVES DRC PORTS TEMPORARY THUMBS UP

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000182 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EWWT ECON PREL PTER PINS CG SUBJECT: COAST GUARD GIVES DRC PORTS TEMPORARY THUMBS UP REF: 05 KINSHASA 1039 ¶1. (U) The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has suspended its prior determination that the DRC's maritime anti-terrorism measures are inadequate (reftel). The USCG announced in a January 24 Port Security Advisory (PSA) that ships that have visited the DRC during their last five ports of call no longer face special USCG-imposed conditions of entry into the U.S. ¶2. (SBU) The DRC initially landed on the USCG's PSA list because it had failed to demonstrate compliance with the International Maritime Organization's International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code. After Post informed the GDRC of its placement on this list in May 2005, Congolese port managers pressed forward with their security plans. Two USCG officers from their liaison office in Rotterdam toured the DRC's eight listed international maritime ports with EconOff in September 2005, and the public and private ports' progress and commitment to full ISPS code implementation impressed them. (Note: The USCG recommended that the GDRC remove one of the ports from its list as it did not appear to have any international functions. End note.) ¶3. (SBU) As a result of the visit, the USCG determined that the DRC merited removal from the PSA list of non-compliant countries, pending final security upgrades and a verification visit. The USCG told EconOff that it believes that this provisional finding will serve as a carrot to juxtapose its PSA "stick." (Note: Although precise statistics are not available, the USCG estimates that only three to four vessels per month enter the US after visiting the DRC within their previous five ports of call. End note.) ¶4. (SBU) In addition to upgrading the DRC to probationary status, the USCG sent to all public and private maritime port operators, through EconOff, several suggestions to help the ports achieve full ISPS compliance. The next step will be an interim USCG visit to the DRC, perhaps in March, including site inspections of the ports that have not fully implemented security provisions. The USCG told EconOff that the purpose of the visits are to motivate the GDRC to continue its progress and to provide additional technical advice. The final step, as mentioned above, will be a verification visit, an event which will not likely occur until the second half of the year. ¶5. (SBU) GDRC officials have told EconOff that they are continuing security upgrades and efforts to obtain all funding. However, it is not clear that the GDRC will be able to maintain adequate long-term anti-terrorism measures. Both a Belgian diplomat and the manager of a port-side business in Matadi, the DRC's main port, told EconOff that during the last few weeks, there has been essentially unfettered access to what should be a controlled port area. Further, ONATRA, the port authority, now has diminished access to operating capital as the result of a December 30 presidential decree that declares that OFIDA, the national customs agency, is the sole border entry-point revenue collector; ONATRA and other agencies previously each collected their own revenues. As a result, ONATRA may either have or claim to have fewer resources available to finance its ongoing work. MEECE