AGREEMENT REACHED ON GSOMIA TEXT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 006896

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2011
TAGS: MARR PREL PGOV JA
SUBJECT: AGREEMENT REACHED ON GSOMIA TEXT

Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: U.S. and Japanese negotiators reached
substantial agreement November 29 on the text of a General
Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA),which
will set uniform rules across the Japanese government for
handling U.S.-origin classified military information. The
GSOMIA should enable smoother and swifter exchange of such
information with Japan, especially at the military level.
MOFA contacts expect the text to be endorsed by the Cabinet
no later than March; no Diet approval is required. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) A U.S. negotiating team, led by OSD/ISP Director
Ronald Zwart and Deputy Director David Sobyra, reached
agreement with Japanese counterparts November 29 on the text
of a General Security of Military Information Agreement
(GSOMIA),designed to set uniform rules for the handling of
each countries' classified military information.


3. (C) The agreement commits both sides to "substantially
equivalent" treatment, handling, transmittal and storage of
each others' classified military information. Exact
procedures to implement the agreement are largely left up to
each party to define, with periodic reciprocal security
assessment visits to confirm that substantially equivalent
procedures are in place. The GSOMIA should enable smoother
and swifter exchange of such information with Japan,
especially at the military level. See para 8 for bilaterally
agreed GSOMIA text.


4. (C) MOFA will likely submit the text for Cabinet Office
legal review in January, with final approval by the Cabinet
no later than March (no Diet approval required),according to
MOFA U.S.-Japan Security Treaty Division contacts. Before
that happens, say the contacts, the various Japanese
government agencies that handle the classified military
information covered by the agreement will review their
internal procedures to ensure they are in compliance with the
terms of the GSOMIA text.


5. (C) MOFA contacts say they will seek reference to at least
"substantial agreement" on the GSOMIA in a possible "2 2"
statement in mid-January.


6. (U) Embassy understands that action now lies with State's
Office of the Legal Advisor (L) to review and clear on the
text. The agreement requires English and Japanese language
versions to be equally valid; Embassy will forward MOFA's
Japanese version to L as soon as received.


7. (C) Progress on the text indicates Japan has overcome
inter-agency differences that caused resistance to a GSOMIA
for 25 years, and made it the only major U.S. ally without
such an agreement. The agreement on the text reached
November 29 is the culmination of negotiations begun in 2003.
Inter-agency buy-in was evident in the broad representation
in the Japanese delegation at the talks. Japanese
representatives included the Japan Defense Agency, Cabinet
Intelligence and Research Office, Public Security Information
Agency, Cabinet Satellite Office, National Police Agency, and
Japan Coast Guard.


8. (U) Begin bilaterally agreed GSOMIA text:

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN AND THE GOVERNMENT
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONCERNING SECURITY MEASURES
FOR THE PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED MILITARY INFORMATION

PREAMBLE

The Government of Japan and the Government of the United
States of America (hereinafter referred to as "the Parties"
and separately as "a Party"),

Affirming that the Japan-United States security arrangements,
based on the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security
between Japan and the United States of America signed at
Washington on January 19, 1960, is the cornerstone for
achieving common security objectives,

Recognizing that the Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement
between Japan and the United State of America signed at Tokyo
on March 8, 1954, and the arrangements made thereunder have
provided for the reciprocal exchange of defense-related
information,

Recalling that, at the meeting of the Security Consultative
Committee on October 29, 2005, the Ministers expressed their
commitment to take additional necessary measures to protect
shared classified information so that broader information
sharing is promoted among pertinent authorities,

Desiring to further mutual cooperation to ensure that
protection of classified military information;

Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1

DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this Agreement,

(a) "Classified Military Information" (hereinafter referred
to as "CMI") means any defense-related information that is
generated by or for the use of or held by the Department of
Defense of the United States of America or the Japan Defense
Agency, or defense-related information generated by or for
the use of or held by other relevant authorities of the
Government of the United States of America or the Government
of Japan, and that requires protection in the interests of
national security of the originating Party. The information
shall bear a security classification and, where necessary, an
appropriate indication to identify such information as CMI.
Such information may be in oral, visual, electronic, magnetic
or documentary form, or in the form of equipment of
technology;

(b) "national laws and regulations" means,
(i) in relation to Japan, the laws listed in the Annex
attached hereto and other relevant laws and regulations, and
(ii) in relation to the United States of America, the laws
which will be notified by the Government of the United States
of America to the Government of Japan through the diplomatic
channel and other relevant laws and regulations;

(c) "personnel security clearance" means an eligibility for
handling securely CMI granted to individuals in accordance
with each Party's appropriate procedures.

ARTICLE 2

PROTECTION OF CMI

CMI provided directly or indirectly by one Party to the other
Party shall be protected under the terms set forth herein,
provided that they are consistent with the national laws and
regulations of the recipient Party.

ARTICLE 3

CHANGES IN NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS

Each Party shall notify the other of any changes to its
national laws and regulations that would affect the
protection of CMI under this Agreement. In such case, the
Parties shall consult, as provided for in Article 19(b),to
consider possible amendments to this Agreement. In the
interim, CMI shall continue to be protected in accordance
with the provisions of this Agreement, unless otherwise
approved in writing by the releasing Party.

ARTICLE 4

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION AND MARKING OF CMI

For the Government of the United States of America, CMI shall
be marked Top Secret, Secret, or Confidential. For the
Government of Japan, CMI that is designated as "Defense
Secret" according to the Self-Defense Forces Law shall be

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marked "Bouei Himitsu", and the other CMI that is not
designated as "Defense Secret" shall be marked "Kimitsu",
"Gokuhi", or "Hi" depending on the sensitivity of the
information concerned.
"Bouei Himitsu" that bears the additional marking "Kimitsu"
shall be afforded a degree of protection equivalent to the
U.S. "Top Secret." "Bouei Himitsu" shall be afforded a
degree of protection equivalent to U.S. "Secret."

Equivalent classifications shall be as follows:

United States Japan
-------------- --------------
Top Secret Kimitsu / Bouei Himitsu (Kimitsu)

Secret Gokuhi / Bouei Himitsu

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Confidential Hi

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//Japanese characters to be added to table in final text//

Each recipient Party shall stamp or mark the name of the
releasing Party on all CMI. The CMI shall also be market
with the equivalent security classification of the recipient
Party.

ARTICLE 5

SUPPLEMENTAL IMPLEMENTING ARRANGEMENTS

Supplemental implementing arrangements under this Agreement
may be entered into by competent authorities of the Parties.
For the Government of the United States of America, the
competent authority shall be the Department of Defense. For
the Government of Japan, the competent authority shall be
identified by the Government of Japan and notified by it to
be Government of the United States of America through the
diplomatic channel.

ARTICLE 6

PRINCIPLES FOR PROTECTING CMI

The Parties shall ensure that:

(a) The recipient Party shall not release the CMI to any
government, person, firm, institution, organization, or other
entity of a third country without the prior written approval
of the releasing Party;

(b) The recipient Party, in accordance with its national laws
and regulations, shall take appropriate measures to provide
to the CMI a degree of protection substantially equivalent to
that afforded by the releasing Party;

(c) The recipient Party shall not use the CMI for any other
purpose than that for which it was provided, without the
prior written approval of the releasing Party;

(d) The recipient Party shall observe intellectual property
rights such as patents, copyrights, or trade secrets which
are involved in CMI;

(e) Each governmental facility that handles CMI shall
maintain a registry of individuals with personnel security
clearances and who are authorized to have access to such
information; and

(f) Procedures for identification, location, inventory and
control of CMI shall be established by each Party to manage
the dissemination of and access to CMI.

ARTICLE 7

PERSONNEL ACCESS TO CMI

(a) No government official shall be entitled to access to CMI
solely by virtue of rank, appointment, or a personnel
security clearance.

(b) Access to CMI shall be granted only to those government
officials whose official duties require such access and who
have been granted a personnel security clearance in
accordance with the national laws and regulations of the
recipient Party.

(c) The Parties shall ensure that the determination on the
granting to a government official of a personnel security
clearance is consistent with the interests of national
security and based upon all available information indicating
whether the government official is trustworthy and reliable
in the handling of CMI.

(d) Appropriate procedures shall be implemented by the
Parties to ensure that the criteria referred to in the
preceding paragraph have been met, in accordance with the
national laws and regulations of each Party, with respect to
any government official to be granted access to CMI.

(e) Before a representative of one Party releases CMI to a
representative of the other Party, the recipient Party shall
provide to the releasing Party an assurance that: the
representative possesses the necessary level of personnel
security clearance; the representative requires access for
official purposes; and that the recipient Party, in
accordance with its national laws and regulations, shall take
appropriate measures to provide to the CMI a degree of
protection substantially equivalent to that afforded by the
releasing Party.

ARTICLE 8

VISIT PROCEDURES

Authorizations for visits by representatives of one Party to
facilities of the other Party where access to CMI is required
shall be limited to those necessary for official purposes.
Authorization to visit a facility which is located in the
territory of the country of one Party shall be granted only
by the Party. The visited Party shall be responsible for
advising the facility of the proposed visit, the topic, the
scope, and highest level of CMI that may be furnished to the
visitor. Requests for visits by representatives of the
Parties shall be submitted through the appropriate offices of
the Embassy of the United States of America in Tokyo or
United States Forces Japan Headquarters in the case of United
States visitors, and through the Embassy of Japan in
Washington, D.C. in the case of Japanese visitors.

ARTICLE 9

TRANSMISSION

CMI shall be transmitted between the Parties through
Government-to-Government channels. Upon such transfer, the
Recipient Party shall assume responsibility for custody,
control and security of the CMI.

ARTICLE 10

SECURITY OF FACILITIES

Each party shall be responsible for the security of all
governmental facilities where CMI of the other Party is kept
and shall assure that, for each such facility, qualified
government officials are appointed who shall have the
responsibility and authority for the control and protection
of CMI subject to this Agreement.

ARTICLE 11

STORAGE

The Parties shall store CMI in a manner that assures access
only by those individuals who have been authorized access
pursuant to Articles 7 and 16.

ARTICLE 12

SECURITY REQUIREMENTS DURING TRANSMISSION

The minimum requirements for the security of CMI during
transmission shall be as follows:

(a) Classified Documents and Media

(i) Documents and media containing CMI shall be transmitted
in double, sealed envelopes with the innnermost envelope
bearing only the classification of the documents or media and
the organizational address of the intended of the intended
recipient and the outer envelope bearing the organizational
address of the recipient, the organizational address of the
sender, and the registry number, if applicable.

(ii) No indication of the classification of the enclosed
documents or media shall be made on the outer envelope. The
sealed envelope shall then be transmitted according to the
prescribed regulations and procedures of the releasing Party.

(iii) Receipts shall be prepared for packages containing
classified documents or media that are transmitted between
the Parties and a receipt for the enclosed documents or media
shall be signed by the final recipient and returned to the
sender.

(b) Classified Equipment

(i) Classified equipment shall be transported in sealed,
covered vehicles or be securely packaged or protected in
order to present identification of its details, and kept
under continuous control to prevent access by unauthorized
persons.

(ii) Classified equipment which must be stored temporarily
awaiting shipment shall be placed in a storage area that
provides protection commensurate with the level of
classification of the equipment. Only authorized personnel
shall have access to the storage area.

(iii) Receipts shall be obtained on every occasion when
classified equipment changes hands en route.

(iv) Receipts shall be signed by the final recipient and
returned to the sender.

(c) Electronic Transmissions

CMI transmitted by electronic means shall be protected during
transmission using encryption appropriate for that level of
classified information. Information systems processing,
storing, or conveying CMI shall receive security
accreditation by the appropriate authority of the Party
employing the system.

ARTICLE 13

DESTRUCTION

(a) The Parties shall destroy classified documents and media
by burning, shredding, pulping, or other means preventing
reconstruction in whole or in part of the CMI.

(b) The Parties shall destroy classified equipment beyond
recognition or modify it so as to preclude reconstruction in
whole or in part of the CMI.

ARTICLE 14

REPRODUCTION

When the Parties reproduce classified documents or media,
they shall also reproduce all original security markings
thereon or mark on each copy. The Parties shall place such
reproduced classified documents or media under the same
controls as the original classified documents or media. The
Parties shall limit the number of copies to that required for
official purposes.

ARTICLE 15

TRANSLATIONS

The Parties shall ensure that all translations of CMI are
done by individuals with personnel security clearances
pursuant to Articles 7 and 16. The Parties shall keep the
number of copies to a minimum and control the distribution.
Such translations shall bear appropriate security
classification markings and a suitable notation in the
language into which it is translated indicating that the
document or media contains CMI of the releasing Party.

ARTICLE 16
RELEASE OF CMI TO CONTRACTORS

Prior to the release to a contractor (including a
subcontractor, whenever the term is used herein) of any CMI
received from the other Party, the recipient Party shall take
appropriate measures, in accordance with its national laws
and regulations, to ensure, that:

(a) no individual is entitled to access to CMI solely by
virtue of rank, appointment, or a personnel security
clearance;

(b) the contractor and the contractor's facilities have the
capability to protect CMI;

(c) all individuals whose official duties require access to
CMI have personnel security clearances;

(d) a personnel security clearance is determined in the same
manner as provided for in Article 7;

(e) appropriate procedures are implemented to provide
assurance that the criteria referred to in Article 7 (c) have
been met with respect to any individual granted access to CMI;

(f) all individuals having access to CMI are informed of
their responsibilities to protect the information;

(g) initial and periodic security inspections are carried out
by the recipient Party at each contractor facility where the
releasing Party's CMI is stored or accessed to ensure that it
is protected as required in this Agreement;

(h) access to CMI is limited to those persons whose official
duties require such access;

(i) a registry of individuals with personnel security
clearances and who are authorized to have access to such
information is maintained at each facility;

(j) qualified individuals are appointed who shall have the
responsibility and authority for the control and protection
of CMI;

(k) CMI is stored in the same manner as provided for in
Article 11;

(l) CMI is transmitted in the same manner as provided for in
Articles 9 and 12;

(m) classified documents and classified equipment are
destroyed in the same manner as provided for in Article 13;

(n) classified documents are reproduced and placed under
control in the same manner as provided for in Article 14; and

(o) translation of CMI is done and copies are treated in the
same manner as provided for in Article 15.

ARTICLE 17

LOSS OR COMPROMISE

The releasing Party shall be informed immediately of all
losses or compromises as well as possible losses or
compromises of its CMI and the recipient Party shall initiate
an investigation to determine the circumstances. The results
of the investigation and information regarding measures taken
to prevent recurrence shall be forwarded to the releasing
Party by the recipient Party.

ARTICLE 18

VISITS BY SECURITY REPRESENTATIVES

Implementation of the foregoing security requirements can be
advanced through reciprocal visits by security
representatives of the Parties. Accordingly, security
representatives of each Party, after prior consultation,
shall be permitted to visit the other Party to discuss
security procedures and observe their implementation in the
interest of achieving reasonable comparability of their
respective security systems on mutually agreed venues and in
a mutually satisfactory manner. Each Party shall assist the
security representatives in determining whether CMI provided
by the other Party is being adequately protected.

ARTICLE 19

ENTRY INTO FORCE, AMENDMENT, DURATION AND TERMINATION

(a) This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of
signature.

(b) Amendments to the present Agreement shall be entered into
by mutual consent of the Parties and shall enter into force
as of the date of the signature thereof.

(c) This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of one
year and shall be automatically extended annually thereafter
unless either Party notifies the other in writing through the
diplomatic channel ninety days in advance of its intention to
terminate the Agreement.

(d) Notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement, all
CMI provided pursuant to this Agreement shall continue to be
protected in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.

DONE at on , , in duplicate, in Japanese
and English languages, both texts being equally authentic.

For the Government of Japan:
//signature//

For the Government of the United States of America:
//signature//

//page break//

ANNEX

The Japanese national laws and regulations referred to in
paragraph (b) of Article 1:

(1) Secret Protection Law to Implement the Mutual Defense
Assistance Agreement and Other Related Agreements between
Japan and the United States of America (Law No. 166, 1954)

(2) Self-Defense Forces Law (Law No. 165, 1954)

(3) Law on Special Measures concerning Criminal Cases to
Implement the Agreement under Article VI of the Treaty of
Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United
States of America, regarding Facilities and Areas and the
Status of United States Armed Forces in Japan (Law No. 138,
1952)

(4) National Public Service Law (Law No. 120, 1947)

End text.
SCHIEFFER