EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: NATIONAL

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 008209 SIPDIS SIPDIS USDOC FOR 532/OEA/M. NICKSON-DORSEY/JAY HATFIELD USDOC FOR 3131/USFCS/OIO/ANESA/KREISSL USDOC FOR 4530/MAC/ANESA/OSA ICE HQ FOR STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS STATE FOR EB/ESP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC ETRD BEXP IN SUBJECT: EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, HYDERABAD, LICENSE NO. D351494 REF: USDOC 04401 ¶1. Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12(c) of the Export Administration Act. ¶2. BIS requested a Post-shipment Verification (PSV) at National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI),website: www.ngri.org.in. NGRI was listed as the Ultimate Consignee for one Geotomographie borehole hydrophone controlled under ECCN 6A001. The license applicant was Geometrics Inc. (Geometrics),San Jose, CA. ¶3. On August 11, 2006, ECO sent a formal request to Deputy Secretary (AMS) Viraj Singh (Singh),GOI Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to set up a PSV at NGRI for one Geotomographie borehole hydrophone to be used for research and development. ¶4. On August 23, 2006, Singh sent an email response to ECO stating that NGRI informed him that the full equipment had not yet been received by NGRI. The partial shipment received was also not to be opened by NGRI until and in the presence of the supplier's representative, Electrotek International Inc., GEO Division, Chennai, so that there was no confusion on what has not been supplied by the supplier. NGRI further stated to Singh that NGRI expects the installation and commissioning of the system, to be done by Geotomographie, Germany, during the month of September 2006, after the full shipment arrived. ¶5. On October 13, 2006, Singh was transferred to another MEA Division and Under Secretary (AMS) Prashant Agrawal (Agrawal) replaced him. On October 26, 2006, Agrawal sent an email update to ECO stating that the PSV could not be scheduled earlier as the equipment was held up with Indian Customs. He stated the complete equipment had now been received by NGRI. NGRI informed MEA that as soon as the installation is complete, the PSV would be scheduled. ¶6. ECO regularly followed up with Agrawal to arrange the PSV as early as possible. On November 2, 2006, Agrawal informed ECO the equipment would be installed in the first week of November 2006. On November 20, 2006, ECO sent an email again reminding Agrawal that the case had well past the EUVA deadline and the PSV should be arranged as soon as possible, even if the equipment is not operational. MEA did not proide any further updates on the status of the hydrophone nor when a PSV was to be scheduled. ¶7. Recommendation: As the PSV request is currently 117 days old and 89 days past the EUVA deadline, MEA has been unable to arrange a verification visit for this transaction. No on-site inspection has been conducted nor transaction documentation provided other than specifications. ECO cannot verify the end-use of the listed commodity and reliability of the National Geophysical Research Institute. Post recommends an unfavorable Post-shipment Verification. (MKRUFE) Mulford