EXBS: SE ASIA REGIONAL ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000645 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC PVANSON, ACHURCH, KCROUCH, ROWEN DEPT FOR ISN/ECC/AMT LSPRINGER DEPT FOR EAP/RSP WCOMLEY, NDEAN, TFORSYTH, AFORSBERG CBP/INA FOR RWATT USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY DOC FOR PETERSEN-BEARD JAKARTA FOR MYAJNIK MANILA FOR VSANTOS SINGAPORE FOR MCLAUSEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP MY SUBJECT: EXBS: SE ASIA REGIONAL ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE MARCH 2007 ¶I. SUMMARY A Pre-License Check and Post-Shipment Verification Workshop was conducted in Singapore. Delegates from the Philippines attended a legal workshop in Washington, DC. The Advisor coordinated three upcoming EXBS courses with Government of Malaysian (GOM) officials, worked in cooperation with Embassy Jakarta and Embassy Manila officials on upcoming activities in Indonesia and the Philippines, and continued to coordinate US export control efforts with foreign diplomatic missions in Malaysia. END SUMMARY II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS DURING REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. On March 01 the Advisor met with Bong Yik Jui, Assistant Secretary in the Multilateral Affairs Division of the SIPDIS Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to coordinate the Targeting and Risk Management course scheduled for April and identify topics of discussion for the legal workshop in May. ¶2. The Advisor, along with POLOFF, met with Lauren Bain, Political Officer from the Australian High Commission, on March 07 to get her feedback on the recent (Feb 28 - Mar 01) Australian-Malaysian export control dialogue. Ms. Bain reported that no significant progress was made with the GOM, but that the Malaysians had several specific questions during the two-day exchange related to interagency cooperation, Customs authority and liability, and control lists. The Australians asked for a copy of the Malaysian draft export control legislation, but were told the GOM was not ready to share the document outside of their own agencies. Ms. Bain also asked about the status of the draft in the review process and was told that progress was being made, but there was no set date for completion of the review. Since the GOM stated last year that they would have the law reviewed and sent to their Parliament by December 2006, it appears they do not want to set another deadline that they might not be able to meet. The Advisor will continue to monitor and report on the status of the legislation. ¶3. On March 15 the Advisor had a discussion with James Paver, Political Counselor from the British High Commission, related to counter-terrorism and export control issues and was informed of a GOM WMD training exercise to be conducted the following night with trainers from the British government. The Advisor met with Mr. Paver again on March 19 along with POLOFF for a debrief on the lessons learned from the British perspective. A separate report was filed by email regarding the exercise. ¶4. On March 20 an interagency group from the Embassy met to review the draft report of the Border Control Assessment Initiative (BCAI) conducted in Sabah, East Malaysia from January 29 to February 02. The BCAI focused on security along Malaysia's porous land border with Indonesia and the open, largely uncontrolled sea approaches between Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The group agreed on suggestions for enhancing the report's utility, including the inclusion of further border security recommendations. Inputs have been provided to EAP and DSS/ATA via separate channels for inclusion in a revised version of the report. ¶5. During March the Advisor worked with Embassy personnel in Jakarta and Manila to assist with EXBS courses and activities in Indonesia and the Philippines. The Advisor has coordinated with Embassy Jakarta and Embassy Manila and will travel to both countries in May to meet with Embassy personnel and host government officials. ¶B. TRAINING CONDUCTED DURING REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. Contractors from Commonwealth Trading Partners (CTP) conducted a Pre-Licensing Check (PLC) and Post-Shipment Verification (PSV) Workshop March 06-08 in Singapore. A total KUALA LUMP 00000645 002 OF 002 of 30 officials from Customs, the Defense Technology Advisory Office, and the Defense Industry and Systems Office attended the training, which focused on both licensing and enforcement aspects. ¶2. A group of four Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) officials traveled to Washington, DC to participate in a Legal Technical Workshop with US Government officials from March 27-30. The delegation, all representatives of the Bureau of Customs, was headed by Deputy Commissioner of Customs Bernardo De Villa Sales. In addition to Deputy Commissioner De Villa Sales, the GRP delegation included Mr. Ramon Gazo Cuyco, Port Operations Service Chief, Mr. Louis Collado Adviento, Export Division Chief, and Mr. Fernandino Acosta Tuason, Intelligence Division Chief. The delegation expressed special interest in learning more about US interagency cooperation in export controls. ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING REPORTING PERIOD NONE ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE ¶1. A Targeting and Risk Management training course by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is scheduled for April 16-20 in Malaysia. ¶2. A port assessment under the Model Ports Initiative is planned for May 07-11 in the Philippines. ¶3. CBP is scheduled to conduct an ISIT in Indonesia May 14-18. ¶4. The Department of Energy is scheduled to hold a Commodities Identification Training workshop May 16-18 in Singapore. ¶5. A legal workshop with Malaysian export control officials will be held May 28-30 in Kuala Lumpur. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY NONE III. RED FLAG ISSUES NONE IV. Questions and comments can be directed to EXBS Program Advisor Richard Moody, telephone 6-03-2168-4861, fax 6-03-2168-5165, cell phone 6-017-213-1965, and email moodyrl@state.gov. LAFLEUR