BIS TEAM "CHECKS OUT" LIBYA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TRIPOLI 000565

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/MAG AND NEA/PI FOR KENT PATTON; COMMERCE FOR
NATE MASON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECIN EINV ENRG ECON ETRD ETTC LY
SUBJECT: BIS TEAM "CHECKS OUT" LIBYA


1. (U) Summary: The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry
and Security (BIS) completed a largely successful series of
export license compliance checks September 9-19. BIS agents
Scot Gonzales and Perry Davis completed dozens of checks during
the BIS's first-ever visit to Libya. Levels of compliance were
mixed, but the team set a baseline for future Commerce license
checks and educated the GOL and local businesses about recent
export rules changes germane to Libya. End summary.

--------------
First BIS visit to Libya Reviews End-Use Compliance
--------------


2. (U) Scot Gonzales and Perry Davis from the Commerce
Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) conducted the
first-ever series of export license checks in Libya, September
9-19. They visited numerous sites in both Tripoli and Benghazi
to review compliance with U.S. export regulations. The licensed
commodities under review were "dual use" items which can have
both civilian and military uses. The team ensured that the
controlled items had been shipped to the proper end user and
were utilized for the purpose stated on license applications.
They took pains to explain the purpose of their visit to their
interlocutors, emphasizing that BIS conducts end-use checks
worldwide, and that a successful review of an entity's record
can speed future license approvals.


3. (U) The BIS team's visit came on the heels of the August 31
amendment to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that
apply to Libya. This change removed the requirement for a
license to export or re-export items controlled for
anti-terrorism (AT) reasons. With the change, items such as
most computers, software, telecommunications equipment and
vehicles can be exported to Libya without a Commerce export
license. The BIS team addressed questions about the EAR change,
which put Libya on a par with most US export destinations,
noting that many of the commodities being checked would no
longer require licenses for export and re-export to Libya.

-------------- --------------
--------------
Installed Base Responsibilities Briefed to Interlocutors
-------------- --------------
--------------


4. (U) During their visit, the BIS team reminded interlocutors
about their responsibilities in dealing with "installed base"
items. Installed base refers to U.S. goods brought into the
country during the sanctions period without appropriate
licenses. U.S. citizens are prohibited from "ordering, buying,
removing, concealing, storing, using, selling, loaning,
disposing of, transferring, financing, forwarding, or otherwise
servicing, in whole or part, any items that may have been
originally illegally exported or reexported to Libya by third
parties." Furthermore, US citizens are required by law to
report such items to the Bureau of Industry and Security within
90 days of coming into contact with them. This includes
commodities that no longer require a Commerce license following
the August 31 amendment of the EAR as it relates to Libya.
Installed base items are undoubtedly present in every sector of
the Libyan economy, particularly in agriculture.


5. (SBU) The BIS team's license checks focused primarily on
companies working in the petroleum sector, including Conoco
Philips, Marathon, Schlumberger, Hess, and WesternGeco, among
others. Two large Libyan government entities, the Arabian Gulf
Oil Company and the Great Man-Made River Authority, were also
visited. The quality of the license checks ranged widely. At
the high end were impressive displays of corporate compliance,
complete with PowerPoint slide shows, tidy binders of
appropriate paperwork and export compliance specialists flown in
from abroad. In a few instances, equipment was pulled from the
field (e.g., GPS units used by petroleum exploration crews
operating deep in the Libyan desert) to be presented to the BIS
team for inspection. Other checks were conducted without the
benefit of a visual inspection of the licensed items, owing to
their reported ongoing use in remote areas of the country.

-------------- ---
Appointment Requests Encounter Stunning Bureaucratic Evasion
-------------- ---


6. (SBU) One failed license check spoke volumes about the
frustrations of operating in Libya. The BIS team, accompanied
by Econoff and Econ Specialist, had flown to Benghazi to conduct
several checks at GOL owned/operated facilities. Appointments
set before departure dissolved by 9AM the following day, and the
team was forced into a holding pattern. As required, a request
for these USG-GOL meetings had been made in advance via
diplomatic note, and approval had been granted by the Protocol
Office of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and
International Cooperation. However, this fact had not reached
the Libyan entities, and it took more than a day of continuous
phone calls to clarify the situation and commence office visits.
However, the quasi-private Bank of Commerce and Development
engaged in a stunning display of bureaucratic evasion tactics,
and avoided a visit entirely. After much effort to contact him,
our bank point of contact confirmed receipt of protocol's
approval for the meeting, as well as his superior's approval of
the meeting in principle. However, he staunchly and repeatedly
refused a meeting, on the grounds that he had not personally
received his supervisor's personal permission to hold the
meeting. Alas, neither reason nor his supervisor could be
reached, and the team's trip passed without a visit to the Bank
of Commerce and Development. It is noteworthy that in Libya,
even a visit to a "private" bank can require expediting by the
Libyan Government Protocol Office, and the extra level of
coordination does not guarantee success.

--------------
Check You Later
--------------


7. (U) The BIS team departed Libya having conducted dozens of
end-use license checks, almost all of which produced solid
evidence that end items were being utilized and controlled
properly. With the amendment of the EAR, return of U.S. oil
companies and the expansion of bilateral trade and investment
ties, future Commerce license checks are likely to focus on a
narrower, more sensitive range of commodities. Agents Gonzales
and Davis did not clear this cable.
BERRY