EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR'S MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ASTANA 000333 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, JHARTSHORN DEPT FOR ISN/ECC-AMT LSPRINGER DEPT FOR EUR/ACE RBUCK DEPT FOR SCA/RA JSCHLOSSER DEPT FOR SCA/CEN MO'MARA CBP/INA FOR CDONOFRIO AND RWATT USDOE/NNSA CWALKER, TPERRY AND EDESCHLER DOC FOR DCREED AND GPETERSEN-BEARD USCG FOR BGOLDEN AMEMBASSY BERLIN FOR CUSTOMS ATTACHE AMEMBASSY TASHKENT, BISHKEK, BAKU, DUSHANBE AND ASHGABAT FOR EXBS ADVISORS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP KZ SUBJECT: EXBS: KAZAKHSTAN ADVISOR'S MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE (JANUARY 2007) ¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: ¶1. Aktau Safe-Boat meeting. EXBS, INL, and OMC will meet with the Kazakhstani Border Guard leadership in Aktau February 4-7. The meeting is to establish a clear way-forward on a number of ongoing issues associated with the Spring 2006 EXBS donation of the three Safe-Boats. Topics include maintenance and possible DoD monies for supporting the Border Guard's maritime mission. While there, EXBS will inspect the state of the boats (including winterization and hull painting),assess mission performance, and conduct a Border Post Survey at Sagyndy - the site of an EXBS Border Guard shelter donated in 2003. This meeting is essential, as it will not only address a number of open issues with all the key players present, but also provide an opportunity to deconflict multiple Kazakhstani Border Guard requests that have been received by EXBS, OMC, INL, and DTRA. ¶2. Department of Energy Software Upgrades. Kazakhstani Customs has approved the dates of March 19-23 and April 9-13, 2006, for the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct necessary software installation and upgrades to 3-each portable X-ray Florescence (XRF) metal analyzers. DOE/INECP will send an NTSC representative to the three concerned border posts near China to update the software and operating system used to power the three x-ray analyzers that were provided to Kazakhstan Customs earlier in June of 2006. EXBS, together with the NTSC representative, will also review how the units are being used at the ports of entry. ¶3. False kidnapping alert. The EXBS office responded to a potential kidnapping report the week of January 8. EXBS expended a tremendous amount of effort soliciting the Border Guard to alert all crossings for the suspected missing individual. The report turned out to be based on a misunderstanding. ¶4. Annual EXBS Financial Plan for Kazakhstan. A tentative meeting has been scheduled for February 2 to settle the Plan and obtain guidance for Kazakhstan's EXBS 2006 engagement focus and spending concept. This plan will allow the EXBS Advisor to meet with key Customs and Border Guard leadership with substantial and value-added joint activities and present the EXBS office's Border Survey Schedule for 2007, planned to resume in February. ¶5. EXBS Presentation. EXBS Advisor and staff continue to make progress in creating a generic EXBS presentation for Kazakhstan. This product is intended to be kept perpetually up to date with the history of the program in Kazakhstan, accomplishments, mission, and future direction. It is intended to be used on those occasions when the EXBS Advisor is asked to speak at various events or when key visitors need to be briefed on program efforts. ¶6. Award nomination. EXBS Advisor nominated Gulnara Abildaeva for a Superior Honor Award for consistently high performance in her position with the EXBS program since its beginning in Kazakhstan. The award nomination must be evaluated by an Embassy committee before the nomination can ultimately be approved. Simply put, Gulnara has done an excellent job for the EXBS program. ¶7. Annual EXBS questionnaire. The EXBS Advisor will contact the appropriate EXBS personnel in Washington to gauge the relevance of the perceived annual questionnaire given to the host government to gauge the state of Customs and Border Control efforts. Prior to issuing the questionnaire on-hand, a number of questions were noted by the EXBS Advisor regarding the methodology associated with ASTANA 00000333 002 OF 005 completing the questionnaire. Guidance will be sought from Washington in February. II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS CONDUCTED ¶1. Volunteer Visitor Program. On January 17, the EXBS Advisor, Mike Seguin, met with the Customs Chairman, Askar Shakirov, to discuss the proposed agenda for the upcoming Volunteer Visitor Program, tentatively planned for April or May. Mr. Shakirov liked the proposed itinerary and asked that we meet in February to firm up dates and settle on the rest of the delegation representatives - tentatively set for February 8. The basic plan is to visit operational posts on the U.S. Southern and Northern borders to give the Chairman and his staff some examples of how the U.S. conducts border operations and the challenges the U.S. faces. ¶B. TRAINING DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. Product Identification Training (PIT),January 16-19. PIT was conducted in the City of Pavlodar January 16-19. Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as well as various other government and non-government organizations, attended training designed to improve Kazakhstan's licensing programs, which control the movement of dual-use and other sensitive materials in and out of Kazakhstan. This training focuses on the identification of nuclear, biological, and chemical materials, the use of Kazakhstan's software and licensing systems to identify materials, what to do if questionable materials are suspected at Border Crossings, as well as methods of processing licensing applications. Kazakhstani Customs officials requested that two more trainings like this one be conducted in the Western and Northern Kazakhstan Oblasts. ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. No equipment delivered during this reporting period. ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE ¶1. Joint Table-Top Exercise. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is conducting a table top exercise the week of February 12 in Aktau. This exercise involves the Border Guard and the MoD working together on several different interdiction scenarios that represent the type of border security work that these organizations do in the Caspian region. This exercise is significant as the various U.S. agencies attempt to bring the Border Guard and MoD together to harmonize all their Caspian security missions - EXBS, INL, DoD, and DTRA. It cannot be overstated how difficult it is getting the Kazakhstani Border Guard and MoD to nest their missions within one another. Increased cooperation between the Border Guard and the MoD would enhance the both organizations' non-proliferation missions, thus advancing EXBS interests. Collective reinforcement of this effort by U.S. agencies (EXBS, DTRA, OMC, DoD) is important to achieving jointness within Kazakhstani agencies that have Caspian non-proliferation security missions. ¶2. Administrative Enforcement training postponed. Administrative Enforcement training planned in January has been rescheduled for the week of February 28. This training, in Astana, will be followed by Product Identification Training (PIT) on March 5-7. The training was moved from January to February because Kazakhstani Customs did not prepare the course materials in time to accommodate the ASTANA 00000333 003 OF 005 training. Commonwealth Trading Partners (CTP),a Department of Commerce contractor, will execute this training, which is highly regarded and relevant to enhancing Custom's capacity to support the EXBS goal of non-proliferation. ¶3. International Seaport Interdiction Training February 9-18. Eighteen representatives of the Kazakhstani Border Guard and Customs agencies will participate in International Seaport Interdiction Training (ISIT) in South Carolina February 9-18 (including travel). This training is key to training junior and mid-level officers on systems and methods associated with identifying and interdicting suspected WMD movement in the vicinity of Kazakhstan's seaports on the Caspian Sea. Gulnara Abildaeva, EXBS Program Manager, will accompany the group and report the degree of event success upon her return. The coordination for an event of this magnitude is massive and time consuming. Vetting, visas, and logistics required for an event of this size take least two months of preparation before execution. At this time, all preparations have been made and the event is scheduled to commence as planned. ¶4. Bucharest Export Control Conference. The EXBS Office sent a Dip Note to the Ministry of Foreign affairs inviting a delegation to the annual Export Control Conference in Bucharest, Romania, March 6-8. EXBS is presently waiting for the names candidate attendees in order to make the logistical arrangements and process visas. ¶5. Night Vision Goggles. In support of the U.S. Government's Blue Lantern Program, the EXBS office conducted an administrative inventory of all Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) previously donated to the Kazakhstani Border Guard and Customs Agencies. Since the NVGs are deployed throughout Kazakhstan, a physical inventory was not practical. However, all NVGs were accounted for by serial number and reported in accordance with Blue Lantern regulations. Note that this was reported completed in December; however, EXBS subsequently received and forwarded an additional request for an official front-channel cable. ¶6. Task Order 79 Donation. Task Order 79 for the EXBS donation of Ural Trucks and Border Guard Shelters is nearing fruition. It is expected that these donations will occur in March or April; however, definite delivery dates have not yet been determined. The Ambassador will be asked to participate in a dedication ceremony at an appropriate time. Additionally, EXBS-DC is investigating the possibility of modifying the Task Order to include "complete" shelter installation rather than "partial" installation. Also, EXBS has requested the supplying contractor to change the ship point of the Ural trucks. These changes are considered very desirable and are recommended by the EXBS office in Kazakhstan. ¶7. X-Ray Van Repairs. A message was sent and reply received from Kazahstani Customs for the repair of two Kazakhstani and one Uzbekistan-donated X-Ray vans. EXBS plans to support and conduct repairs for the last time in April. It is important that the EXBS Advisor in Kazakhstan not coordinate the government-to-government approvals necessary to get the Uzbekistan van into Kazakhstani territory. This should be coordinated at the D.C. EXBS level. ¶8. Preliminary Second Line of Defense (SLD) site survey. Mr. Erik Deschler (DOE) expressed a desire to establish a schedule to conduct preliminary site surveys for the SLD program's installation of Portal Monitors. It is expected that this schedule will be approved by the Kazakhstani government after the contract has been signed for the purchase and installation of the equipment. Though not ASTANA 00000333 004 OF 005 confirmed at this moment, the EXBS Advisor believes the required contracts have in fact been signed and Kazakhstan Customs can now be approached for the desired schedule. ¶9. Fiber Scope Repairs. Carla D'Onofrio of DHS/CBP has funding to repair various EXBS donated equipment, such as the previously donated fiber scopes. The EXBS Office will contact Carla to gauge her capacity to support repairs which Kazakhstani Customs requested be conducted in February. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY ¶1. World Customs Conference, January 16-19. Kazakhstan hosted the World Customs Organization (WCO) for Central Asian countries January 16-19. This event was hosted by the Kazakhstani Customs Chairman Askar Shakirov. All Central Asian countries were present, as well as special guests, including the Ambassador of Japan, the General Secretary of the WCO, as well as delegations from the rest of the world customs community. Many Kazakhstani officials spoke from every corner of Kazakhstan's Customs Organization. The most important outcome of the event was Kazakhstan's pronouncements regarding corruption. The Customs speakers uniformly acknowledged that Kazakhstan has much work to do on this issue, and stated their commitment to adhere to internationally accepted conventions and procedures to fight corruption. The speakers also communicated clearly why corruption is counter-productive to Kazakhstan's interests. The underlying message of the conference was that Kazakhstan understands why corruption needs to be attacked. A very good event. Kazakhstan wants to be seen as a leader and model in Central Asia in managing regional customs affairs. ¶2. UNSCR 1718. William Tobey, Deputy Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration, and accompanying delegation, visited with the Kazakhstani Customs leadership January 24 to discuss UNSCR 1718 and reinforce the urgency of interdicting North Korean attempts to proliferate WMDs. The meeting was set up with very little lead-time and, unfortunately, the Customs Chairman, Askar Shakirov, was unable to attend the meeting. However, the Chairman's Deputy, Baurzhan Abdishev, and the rest of his staff attended the meeting. Since Mr. Shakirov was unable to attend this meeting, the EXBS office will reinforce Mr. Tobey's message to Mr. Shakirov during a February 8 meeting regarding the Volunteer Visitors Program for Customs officials. ¶3. Article about Georgian seizure of suspect carrying Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). An associated press story, released January 24, described a Summer 2006 Georgian sting operation which, using intelligence and law enforcement officials from the U.S. and Georgia, captured a Russian man carrying a small amount of HEU. According to the Associated Press, the story was released publicly because of the Minister's frustration with the Russian government and their lack of cooperation in identifying where the suspect obtained the HEU. This story underscores the many facets of the international threat that continues to exist and why programs such as EXBS are important to global security interests. ¶4. Ms. Gulnara Elegabayeva's visit to Washington D.C. EXBS is awaiting a trip report and debrief from Chris Walker (DOE) on the workshop's success. Ms. Elegabayeva is a nuclear export control specialist with the Atomic Energy Committee of Kazakhstan. The purpose of her visit with the DOE was to discuss nuclear export control systems with U.S., Russian, and other Kazakhstani ASTANA 00000333 005 OF 005 counterparts. ¶F. CASPIAN SECURITY INFORMATION ¶1. None. III. RED FLAG ISSUES. ¶1. None. ORDWAY