TAIWAN RESPONSE TO NON-PAPER: POSSIBLE EXPORT TO

S E C R E T AIT TAIPEI 000607 SIPDIS STATE/ISN/MTR, EAP/TC, ISN/ECC, NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2018 TAGS: ETTC MTCRE PARM PREL TW SY AE SUBJECT: TAIWAN RESPONSE TO NON-PAPER: POSSIBLE EXPORT TO SYRIA BY EUMA-SPINNER REF: 08 STATE 036646 Classified By: Stephen M. Young, AIT Director, for reasons 1.4(b) and ( d) ¶1. (S) On April 30, AIT received the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) of the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs' response to reftel non-paper. An unofficial AIT translation of BOFT's response follows: ¶2. (S) BEGIN TRANSLATION Subject: Please find BOFT's findings regarding a Syrian-based company, Sinan CNC Machine Tools, possibly purchasing machine tools from a Taiwan-based company, Euma-Spinner Corporation, through Golden Line, a UAE-based company. Explanation: ¶1. This action was made according to an AIT Economic Section letter (number SS36646) dated April 8, 2008. ¶2. Based on the data provided by Taiwan Customs, Euma-Spinner Corporation (Euma-Spinner) did not export machine tools to these two companies - Golden Line and Sinan CNC Machine (Sinan) - from January to March 24, 2008. To prevent Euma-Spinner Corporation from exporting machine tools to the UAE and subsequently transshipping them to Syria for purposes of weapons proliferation, BOFT has enhanced control measures on Euma-Spinner by: (1) requesting the Directorate General of Customs (DGC) to list Euma-Spinner as a high-risk manufacturer of Customs Risk Management Systems; (2) notifying Euma-Spinner that, in the future, it needs to apply for Strategic High-Tech Commodities (SHTC) export permits prior to exporting commodities to its foreign trading partners who are engaged in trading business with Golden Line and Sinan; and (3) listing Euma-Spinner among the companies that to receive regular outreach visits conducted by BOFT. END TRANSLATION ¶3. (S) In addition to the above letter, BOFT copied AIT instructions it sent to DGC on March 26, 2008 requesting that the DGC: (1) notify BOFT if DGC finds Euma-Spinner exporting any commodity to Sinan or Golden Line; and (2) obtain from Euma-Spinner the export declaration, product category and specifications, purchase orders or contracts with foreign buyers or importers, and a statement guaranteeing that items being exported are not SHTC items, for all exports to certain restricted countries. The letter also states that the DGC has the authority to release Euma-Spinner's shipments after inspecting the goods. Lastly, BOFT requests that the DGC forward the above-mentioned documents to BOFT for BOFT's use in outreach visits. ¶4. (S) On May 2, the EXBS Advisor met with BOFT officials to follow up on the contents of the April 30 letter. Specifically, the Advisor requested a follow-up report on exports by Euma-Spinner to Sinan and Golden Line since March ¶24. BOFT's reply will be sent via front channel cable. YOUNG NNNN End Cable Text