Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAKU159
2007-02-02 07:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baku
Cable title:  

USCBP DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER AUDREY ADAMS'

Tags:  PREL PGOV ETRD AJ EAIR SNAR EXBS 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2340
RUEAORC/USCBP WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 1982
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT PRIORITY 1424
RUEADRO/HQ ICE DRO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAORD/BICE SAC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000159 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD AJ EAIR SNAR EXBS
SUBJECT: USCBP DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER AUDREY ADAMS'
VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse, reasons 1.4 (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000159

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD AJ EAIR SNAR EXBS
SUBJECT: USCBP DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER AUDREY ADAMS'
VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse, reasons 1.4 (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP)
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Audrey Adams and a three person
delegation visited Azerbaijan from January 15-18, 2007. They
held conversations with the State Border Service and State
Customs Committee on possibilities for enhanced cooperation.
The most important result of the meeting was the agreement in
principle by the State Customs Committee to accept and fund a
U.S. CBP Advisors to work with the Azerbaijani State Customs
Committee on helping to modernize the Azerbaijani Customs
Service. A similar offer was politely turned down by the
SBS. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) USCBP Deputy Assistant Commissioner for
International Affairs Audrey Adams, accompanied by three U.S.
Customs officials, along with Ambassador and EXBS Baku
Director, met with Azerbaijani Customs officials and State
Border Service officials on January 15-18. The meetings were
introductory in nature and expressed the desire, especially
on the customs side, to deepen the strategic and operational
relationship with the U.S. CBP service. The group also
visited the Samur and Shirvanovka border crossings on the
Azerbaijan-Dagestan border, the Silk Road terminal, the State
Border Service Air Wing, the Customs Training facility, and a
cargo and passenger ferry terminal.

CUSTOMS
--------------


3. (C) State Customs Committee Chairman Aydin Aliyev,
accompanied by a large delegation of nine senior Customs
officials, warmly received Adams on January 15 and signaled a
genuine desire to deepen the level of cooperation between the
U.S. and Azerbaijani Customs Services. Included on the
Azerbaijani side were several Customs officers responsible
for information technology, as well as Aliyev,s chief of
internal affairs, Rovshan Mustayev, who is responsible for
granting clearances or investigating corruption in the
Customs service. The inclusion of these people in the

delegation was notable as it seemed to send a signal that
Aliyev wants to modernize his service through technology and
work against corruption. Meetings with the customs service
usually do not include such a large number of people from the
Azerbaijani side.


4. (SBU) During the meeting, Adams presented the idea of
having a U.S. CBP advisor cooperate directly with Azerbaijani
Customs and advise on issues of modernization, technology,
etc. The goal of the advisor would be to make customs more
efficient and to keep the supply chain uninterrupted; Adams
noted that the advisor program would be similar to USCBP
programs in other countries. She also noted that such an
advisory program would be fully reimbursable by the GOAJ.


5. (SBU) Aliyev did not respond directly to Adams' proposal
to provide a U.S. CBP advisor full-time in Azerbaijan in the
January 15 meeting but he talked about his goals for the
service, which include (a) implementing the new Customs Code;
(b) making investigations more efficient; (c) increasing
transparency; (d) modernizing equipment; (e) enhancing
security; (f) enhancing and increasing the level of training
and education of Customs officers through the establishment
of a Customs Academy; and (g) signing of a customs mutual
assistance agreement with the U.S.


6. (C) Aliyev said that his "dream" would be to have the
customs and border services operating as one unit as in the
U.S., but that this did not seem to be in Azerbaijan's
immediate future. Aliyev mentioned the importance of U.S.
assistance in helping Azerbaijan join the World Trade
Organization (WTO). Aliyev admitted that his goals for
Customs were ambitious and said that making progress in
Azerbaijan's political-social climate was difficult. He
complained about the opposition parties, particularly
opposition newspapers, which he said were rife with untruths
and innuendo about Customs. He noted the President Ilham
Aliyev is about to approve a new state program for
strengthening customs.


7. (SBU) During a final meeting on January 18, Aliyev said
that Azerbaijan would be interested in having potentially 2-3
U.S. CBP advisors along the lines outlined by Adams. Adams

BAKU 00000159 002 OF 002


promised to pull together a proposal and present it to Aliyev.

STATE BORDER SERVICE
--------------


8. (C) The delegation also met with the State Border Service
(SBS) on January 15, where a meeting was held with SBS
Chairman Elchin Guliyev and Deputy Chairman Farhad Tagizadeh.
Guliyev presented a general overview of the SBS and
mentioned the pressures that Azerbaijan was under as a result
of refugees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guliyev
described a situation where there were several million
refugees fleeing Iraq and Afghanistan and putting pressure on
the Azerbaijani border. Guliyev mentioned that the SBS has
cooperation with the European Union; European Commission;
Germany, Hungary and Poland (training) and with Turkey.
However, he added that the level of U.S. assistance was
larger than all other countries combined.


9. (C) Guliyev met again with Adams on January 18 to provide
Adams with a briefing on Azerbaijan,s border security. The
briefing surveyed a range of Azerbaijan,s border security
issues, including the outstanding status of Caspian Sea
delimitation, "aggressive separatism" from Armenia, human
trafficking, weapons smuggling, and drugs transiting across
Azerbaijan's territory. Guliyev also claimed that Armenia
backs training camps for "international terrorism" in the
occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh. Guliyev specified
that since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, approximately
two million people have moved from Afghanistan and Iraq
through Azerbaijan. (No further information provided.)


10. (SBU) In response to Adams, suggestion of an on-site
U.S. CBP advisor at the SBS, Guliyev said the proposal was
"very interesting," but noted that the SBS does not have the
legal authority to engage in this type of cooperation.


11. (C) COMMENT: We welcome and appreciate the U.S. CBP,s
interest in expanding its bilateral cooperation with
Azerbaijan and its offer to develop a proposal for a fully
reimbursable Customs Advisor Program in Azerbaijan. Such a
program would help reform Azerbaijan,s Customs operations
and greatly advance our anti-corruption goals; it also could
serve as a model for new co-financing arrangements for our
bilateral technical assistance programs. However, the most
important value added would be the long-term benefits of
helping to stem the flow of drugs and other strategic
proliferation-related materials thought Azerbaijan. Embassy
believes that it would be essential for such a position to be
co-located with in the Azerbaijani Customs service building
and that the designee(s) be a fluent Azerbaijani or
preferably Russian speakers.


12. (U) Adams did not have the opportunity to clear this
message prior to departing Baku.
DERSE