ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT COMPLAINTS CONTINUE TO DECLINE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002527 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2019 TAGS: ECON ETRD PGOV PREL IZ SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT COMPLAINTS CONTINUE TO DECLINE REF: A. 08 BAGHDAD 764 ¶B. 08 BAGHDAD 90 ¶C. 08 BAGHDAD 2467 ¶D. 08 BAGHDAD 3826 ¶E. 08 BAGHDAD 2836 Classified By: EMin Desrocher for reasons 1.5 b,d ¶1. (C) Summary: Iraq's status as a "boycotting country" under the Arab League Boycott of Israel (ALB) has been "under review" since 2006, when ALB compliance requests peaked at ¶33. Since that time, official reports -- as compiled by the Department of Commerce in accordance with reporting requirements under 15 CFR Parts 730-774 -- have steadily declined to zero to date in 2009. The decline is further indication that the GOI is moving toward de facto non-implementation of the ALB. Despite these encouraging signs, unofficial reports of ALB compliance requests continue to occasionally surface. We are pressing the GOI to remove ALB language that, though generally unenforced, remains tangled in a web of conflicting regulations. Senior advisors to the ministers of Trade and Health have told us they are keen on attracting U.S. business and investment, and acknowledge the need to remove ALB as a potential impediment. We have advised them that Iraq's ALB status will be discussed at the October 19 Dialogue on Economic Cooperation (DEC) and, in the absence of any GOI action, could impact bilateral trade and investment. Both advisors committed to raise ALB with their ministers and respond to us in the short term with the GOI's way forward. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Comment: The declining incidences of prohibited requests represent progress toward across-the-board non-implementation; we are not there yet, however. We attribute these occasional cases more to legal/administrative confusion or possible attempts to squeeze, foreign companies than to deliberate attempts to enforce the ALB. Our MOT and MOH interlocutors understand that the USG and potential investors will look for evidence (measured, in part, by their success in removing ALB as an impediment to U.S. commercial interests) that Iraq is open for business. The upcoming DEC and October 20-21 U.S.-Iraq Business and Investment Conference have created some leverage for us, which we will continue to use to urge steady steps toward a more favorable business and investment climate in Iraq. End Comment. -------------- -------------- Recent Trends in Prohibited ALB Compliance Requests 
 -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) According to Department of Commerce (USDOC) data compiled in accordance with reporting regulations under 15 CFR Parts 730-774, U.S. companies have filed no official reports in 2009 regarding Iraqi officials requesting ALB compliance in contracts, business registration requests, and/or patent or trademark applications. U.S. persons reported 33 such boycott requests to USDOC in 2006, 21 in 2007, and 7 in 2008 in accordance with reporting regulations under 15 CFR Parts 730-774. (Note: FCS Baghdad is currently reviewing three current claims by U.S. firms that the MOH has requested ALB compliance certification in order to qualify the companies for MOH tenders or to register with the MOH. If validated, these would be the first of 2009. End note.) Nearly all past cases originated with three GOI entities: the Ministry of Health (MOH),the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO),and the South Oil Company (SOC). The significant decline in reports, we believe, is further evidence that our engagement (ref A) is working. -------------- -------------- Engaging the MOH on Company Registration, Contracts QEngaging the MOH on Company Registration, Contracts -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The MOH has occasionally requested ALB compliance certification from U.S. businesses, but has taken corrective measures to eliminate ALB conditions from draft contracts and tenders when U.S. businesses call on Post to intervene (Ref D). The MOH's company registration regulations still include a requirement to certify compliance with the ALB as a condition of registering for business with the GOI or private Iraqi hospitals. Though generally not enforced, the regulations lead to confusion, expand opportunities for corruption, and result in isolated incidents of ALB compliance requests. Recently, three U.S. firms have told us that they attempted to register with the MOH and were initially instructed to provide an ALB compliance statement. The senior advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr. Salah Shubber, told us he was unaware of the ALB requirements in the MOH's registration regulations. We furnished Shubber a copy of the regulations, specifically highlighting the ALB BAGHDAD 00002527 002 OF 003 language. Shubber said that in a discussion with the Minister, he registered the need to remove ALB-compliance requirements from the MOH's regulations, and expressed some hope that the MOH might quietly take action. ¶5. (C) Shubber and officials at the MOH's procurement arm, the State Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Appliances (Kimadia),see foreign investment as critical, but still fail to understand that ALB compliance requirements act as disincentives for U.S. businesses (ref B). Shubber told us that Kimadia, which spends "around $900 million" annually importing and distributing pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical equipment for government health care programs, needs foreign investment -- and Western management -- and is prepared to undergo "serious structural changes" both to its regulatory framework and ownership structure to get it. Shubber said he intends to travel to Washington for the October 20-21 U.S.-Iraq Business and Investment Conference to continue the search for potential partners. -------------- - Ministry of Trade - No Reports of ALB Requests -------------- - ¶6. (SBU) Since officials at the Ministry of Trade committed to ALB non-implementation (ref D),we have received no claims or complaints by U.S. persons about prohibited ALB requests originating from the Ministry of Trade. -------------- Differing Interpretations at MOT and MOH -------------- ¶7. (C) Though incidences of ALB requests have declined, differing legal opinions at the Ministries of Trade and Health have slowed GOI efforts to entirely remove ALB language from registration regulations, Ministry of Trade senior advisor Dr. Abdulhadi al-Hamiri told us. Ministerial Instruction No. 196, issued March 15, 2004, by the Ministry of Trade, implemented certain amendments to Iraq's 1997 Companies Law No. 21. Among other provisions, the Ministerial Order prohibited discrimination (based on national origin) against persons who seek to register a company in Iraq. A separate registration regulation, promulgated on August 30, 1989 under the authority of the GOI's 1983 Companies Law No. 36 requires certification of compliance with the ALB as a condition of registration. ¶8. (C) Though it would stand to reason that the 2004 regulation would supersede the 1989 regulation, the National Investment Law of 2006 revoked the CPA order on which the 2004 Ministerial Instruction is based. The ministries therefore have differing legal opinions about which regulation remains in force. The MOT, according to al-Hamiri, has taken the position that Ministerial Order No. 196 remains in effect and supersedes the 1989 registrations regulation (under this interpretation there is not/not an ALB-compliance requirement). According to Shubber, the MOH has taken the position that the ALB non-compliant Ministerial Order was revoked and the MOH has reverted to the 1989 boycott-compliant registration regulation (under this interpretation there is an ALB-compliance requirement). Both advisors committed to raise ALB with their respective ministers and respond to us in the short term with the GOI's way forward. -------------- South Oil Company - No Reports -------------- ¶9. (C) Following an intensive campaign that included Economic Minister Counselor and EconCouns visiting South Oil Company (SOC) in Basrah in 2008, meetings with Ministry of Oil Q(SOC) in Basrah in 2008, meetings with Ministry of Oil officials in Baghdad, and a letter to SOC officials detailing our ALB concerns (Ref E),we have received no claims or complaints from U.S. persons about prohibited ALB compliance requests originating from SOC. ALB-compliance instructions for transportation of hydrocarbon products that we previously reported have apparently been removed from the SOC's public documents and website. (Note: SOC previously published the following ALB compliance condition on its official website: "Supplies of our purchase order should never be consigned or shipped by steamers included on Israel Boycott List." End note.) Legal contacts at U.S. and other oil companies have confirmed that throughout the process of Iraq's 2009 bid rounds - auctions for billions of dollars in gas and oil contracts - the GOI has included no/no ALB compliance requirements in any of its qualifying documentation. -------------- - Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) - No Reports BAGHDAD 00002527 003 OF 003 -------------- - ¶10. (SBU) Since the Trademark Office agreed to cease requesting ALB certifications from U.S. persons as part of trademark applications (ref A),we have received no claims or complaints from U.S. persons about prohibited ALB compliance requests originating from the PTO. HILL HILL