(S) GERMANY UNDERCUTS USG AUSTRALIA GROUP DENIAL

S E C R E T BERLIN 000404 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB (KRISTEN GASS) AND EUR/CE STATE FOR EUR/CE PETER SCHROEDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2034 TAGS: PARM PINR ETTC CBW IN IR GM SUBJECT: (S) GERMANY UNDERCUTS USG AUSTRALIA GROUP DENIAL BY APPROVING EXPORT TO UNITED PHOSPHORUS LTD REF: A. 08 BERLIN 1146 ¶B. 08 BERLIN 973 ¶C. 08 STATE 85368 ¶D. 08 BERLIN 1096 ¶E. 08 BERLIN 1103 Classified By: Global Affairs Unit Chief Don L. Brown for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) Germany has decided to approve the export of ref E Australia Group (AG)-listed items to the Indian firm United Phosphorus LTD. After carefully weighing U.S. proliferation concerns, they cited an insufficient legal basis for denial. On April 1, EconOff met with MFA Export Control Division Deputy Office Director, Markus Klinger, on an unrelated proliferation case and used this opportunity inquire about the status this export case. After a lengthy explanation by Klinger of the difficult legal situation a denial of this export would put Germany in, he finally stated that the export had been approved. COMMENT -------------- ¶2. (S) During the meeting, Klinger appeared reluctant to admit that the German Export Control Authority (BAFA) approved the export and keen to show that he had worked diligently to make a case for the denial. In the end, the legal climate in Germany preserving the presumption of German companies, right to export won over. BAFA simply felt that Germany would have been vulnerable to litigation if they had denied the export. Koenig