PSI: SUMMARY OF MAY 29, 2008 PSI 5TH ANNIVERSARY

UNCLAS STATE 075367

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM PREL
SUBJECT: PSI: SUMMARY OF MAY 29, 2008 PSI 5TH ANNIVERSARY
OUTREACH WORKSHOP

REF: A. STATE 044509

B. STATE 048221

C. STATE 029766 (WHA ONLY)

D. STATE 028990 (AF ONLY)

E. STATE 028996 (NEA ONLY)

F. STATE 028161 (EAP ONLY)

G. STATE 043617 (SCA ONLY)

H. STATE 041602


1. SUMMARY: On the occasion of the fifth anniversary
since the President's announcement of the Proliferation
Security Initiative (PSI),the U.S. hosted a PSI Senior
Level Meeting and PSI Outreach Workshop on May 28-29,
2008 in Washington, DC. The May 28 senior level meeting
was for senior nonproliferation policy-makers from all
PSI endorsing states. On May 29, the U.S. and PSI
partners presented a PSI outreach workshop that provided
detailed information on the broad range of PSI activities
and tools that have been developed for training,
organizing for, and conducting interdictions of shipments
of proliferation concern. The Workshop provided
information to representatives attending from 21
countries that have not yet endorsed the PSI, as well
as most of the PSI endorsing states. This cable is
addressed to those countries that have not yet
endorsed or fully committed to the PSI.


2. OBJECTIVE AND ACTION REQUESTED: Washington wishes to
thank the non-endorsing countries that attended our PSI
Outreach Workshop and for embassies to continue
conducting outreach to encourage the non-endorsing
countries to officially endorse the PSI. Posts are
requested to provide the following summary of the May 29
Outreach Workshop to host government officials from
relevant agencies such as Ministries of Foreign Affairs,
Ministries of Defense, Law Enforcement Agencies
(including Customs, Border Guards, etc.),and
Intelligence Agencies. Posts are also requested to seek
host government's views of the PSI after attending the
Outreach Workshop and advise Washington about prospects
for PSI endorsement by host government. We would welcome
Post recommendations for follow-up outreach efforts with
host government.


3. REPORTING DEADLINE AND POINTS OF CONTACT: Posts are
requested to report host governments' reactions by
July 30. Additional meeting materials and presentations
for posts' reference can be provided by State/ISN/CPI
Carlos Guzman (GuzmanCS@state.gov) or Jane Purcell
(PurcelJA@state.gov) upon request.


4. BEGIN TEXT OF SUMMARY OF THE PSI FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OUTREACH WORKSHOP HELD ON MAY 29, 2008:

Patricia A. McNerney, Acting Assistant Secretary for the
International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau of the
U.S. Department of State, chaired a PSI Outreach Workshop
on Thursday, May 29, open to all PSI countries and
non-PSI countries. Representatives from 21 non-PSI
countries attended the meeting. The workshop provided
detailed information on the broad range of PSI
activities, and shared best practices and tools that
have been developed to assist countries with implementing
the PSI Statement of Interdiction Principles.

-- OVERVIEW OF THE PSI. France led a panel of speakers
from the U.S. and UK that addressed the origins of the
PSI, the Statement of Interdiction Principles and its
practical implications as a equal and voluntary
initiative that fully respects national and international
laws; and presented new examples of PSI successes and
the benefits of PSI, demonstrating how the PSI enhances
the global nonproliferation objectives of all countries.

-- CURRENT PROLIFERATION THREATS AND CHALLENGES. The UK
led a panel of speakers from Australia, Canada and Italy
that discussed the challenges posed by transshipments by
sea, land, and air and lessons learned during the last
five years; cooperation with industry and involvement of
industry in support of effective interdiction activities;
and challenges with interdicting dual-use items and
materials. In addition, the topic of proliferation
finance was introduced to convey how proliferators
exploit vulnerabilities of the international financial
system to finance the trade of proliferation sensitive
items and how the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
has developed guidance to deal with this problem at
the national and international level. The organization
of national customs operations to prevent and stop
proliferation-related trafficking was also covered.

-- THE PSI OPERATIONAL EXPERTS GROUP (OEG). The UK
introduced the role of the OEG, emphasizing that the
OEG works on behalf of all PSI endorsing states to
develop operational concepts for interdiction; explore
related operational issues associated with the legal,
law enforcement, customs and intelligence arenas; and
collaborate to develop an exercise program to increase
partner capacity and improve national and international
interoperability. The presentation highlighted the
record of the OEG in the last five years to include 16
meetings, over 30 exercises, tabletops, and workshops
and developing capacity building products such as the
New Zealand Model National Response Plan and the U.S.
WMD Commodity Reference Manual. It concluded with
addressing the challenges for the OEG in the areas of
growth, sustaining momentum, and adapting to the threat
of WMD proliferation.

-- THE PSI AND INDUSTRY OUTREACH. Denmark introduced its
experience with industry outreach to address ways of
conducting interdiction operations while minimizing
impact to trade; the importance of information exchange
between government agencies and industry; developing
guidelines for cooperation; involving industry during
exercises; and examples on how to conduct industry
outreach at the national and international level.

-- THE PSI EXERCISE PROGRAM. Poland led a panel of
speakers from the U.S., Ukraine, and Croatia that
introduced the PSI exercise program and the history of
PSI exercises; explained the exercise strategy for
current and future exercises; discussed the different
types of exercises in the maritime, land and air
domains and described the different interagency
actions involved with each area. The presentation
also discussed the benefits of participating in
exercises and ideas on level of involvement and
participation in future exercises, to include non-PSI
countries as observers when opportunities arise.
Ukraine and Poland offered short briefs on their
respective experiences in hosting two recent
PSI exercises. Ukraine hosted PSI exercise Eastern
Shield in October 2007 and Croatia hosted PSI
exercise Adriatic Shield in May 2008.

-- PSI LEGAL LESSONS LEARNED. The UK and the
Netherlands introduced a primer on legal aspects
related to the PSI, emphasizing that all PSI activities
are consistent with national and international laws.
The presentation highlighted the importance of taking
stock of existing national authorities and emphasized
the utility of PSI as a tool to enforce UNSCR 1540.
Additionally the issues of jurisdiction, disposition and
liability were addressed, highlighting that these issues
pose short-term implementation challenges in some
instances but at the same time, demonstrate a measure of
the success of the PSI in interdicting prohibited
WMD-related items.

-- ORGANIZING FOR THE PSI. New Zealand provided an
overview of the PSI Model National Response Plan that
provides guidance on key issues that a country needs to
consider when developing a framework for responding to
a PSI situation and addresses questions and issues
to be addressed when developing or improving national
plans. A copy of the plan was distributed to all PSI
and non-PSI countries in attendance. Singapore provided
a brief on how a government can organize internal
interagency coordination to optimize its ability to
achieve overall PSI objectives. It highlighted the
creation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to assess,
coordinate, and advise senior officials on relevant
agency actions related to PSI events, with the goal of
achieving interconnectivity by all relevant agencies,
prompt exchange and flow of information, and a timely
response.

-- WALK-THROUGH OF AN INTERDICTION SCENARIO. A U.S.
Naval War College professor facilitated a panel
discussion on two interdiction actions based on
hypothetical WMD trafficking interdiction scenarios.
The panel consisted of legal, diplomatic, policy,
military, and custom/law enforcement experts highlighting
key issues that may arise during an interdiction
situation. The scenarios provided participants with
lessons about the PSI that have been identified through
previous PSI games, exercises, and real world
interdictions.

-- HOW EXPORT CONTROLS SUPPORT THE PSI. Romania
and Croatia presented briefs on their governments'
experience in enacting export control laws, emphasizing
the importance of strengthening primary export control
legislation; taking stock of existing legislation to
address gaps with revised and new legislation;
highlighting the efficiency of a catch-all clause; and
asserting that all countries, including those not a
country of origin, face the threat of WMD proliferation
and may provide opportunities along a proliferation
or smuggling route.

Note: Available presentation materials were distributed
to country representatives who attended the workshop on
May 29. Presentation materials are available upon request.

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