2009-03-27 21:07:00
09STATE29999
Secretary of State
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHC #9999 0862126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 272107Z MAR 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 0000
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC 0000
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC 0000
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC 0000
RUEPINS/HQ BICE INTEL WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS STATE 029999
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
BERN FOR RICHARD RORVIG
POL/E
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC, KOMC, OTRA, PARM, PREL, SZ
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN: DISCUSSIONS WITH EMBASSY AND SWISS OFFICIALS FEBRUARY 23-24
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Senior Compliance Specialist Judd Stitziel from the Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance (PM/DTCC) met February 23-24 in Bern with Embassy and Swiss officials to discuss implementation of the Blue Lantern end-use monitoring program and related U.S. export control issues in Switzerland. End-use monitoring in
Switzerland presents some unique challenges, as Swiss authorities do not allow USG officials to make inquiries directly with private companies. Instead, Embassy officials must submit requests for information to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which conducts the checks and responds back to the Embassy. Despite some concern about the Department’s consequent ability to obtain comprehensive and unvarnished information about private Swiss entities, Swiss authorities generally are expeditious, cooperative, and
reliable. During the visit, Swiss officials demonstrated a good deal of interest and desire to cooperate through the program. The visit appears to have met the objectives of improving understanding of the Blue Lantern end-use monitoring program and USG defense trade laws and regulations. END SUMMARY.
2. (U) Administered by PM/DTCC, Blue Lantern is a global program designed to verify the end-use, end-users, and disposition of commercially exported defense articles, technology, and services. This visit to Switzerland was part of PM/DTCC’s ongoing efforts to improve the program’s effectiveness through outreach visits with posts, host governments, and industry.
EMBASSY EXPORT CONTROL TEAM: SWISS COOPERATIVE BUT NOT ALWAYS OPEN
3. (U) Stitziel met with Embassy export control team members and Charge d’Affaires a.i. Leigh G. Carter to brief the Blue Lantern program and to discuss issues specific to Switzerland. Participants included Richard Rorvig, Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs and Blue Lantern POC; COL Dorothea Cyper-Erickson, Defense and Army Attache; Michael McCool, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Attache; John Walker, Assistant Legal Attache; Donald Businger, Commercial Counselor; Christopher Buck, POL/E Officer; and Sylvie Wanzenried, POL/E FSN. Stitziel also met with Col. Godfred Demandante, Jr., Air Attache, and Ruth Millard, Security Assistance Coordinator, in Stuttgart, Germany, on February 25.
4. (SBU) Stitziel briefed the mission, objectives, and results of Blue Lantern, both globally and in Switzerland. Since 2004, PM/DDTC has received 2,063 applications for commercial defense exports to Switzerland worth $956 million dollars; during that time, PM/DDTC has approved over 1,706 licenses worth $803 million and 273 agreements worth $861
million. Since 2004, a dozen Blue Lantern checks have been conducted, evenly split between pre-license checks and post-shipment verifications, on applications and licenses
that listed end-users in Switzerland. Of these 12 cases, only one was closed “unfavorable,” meaning that the facts determined by the check were not consistent with the information listed on the application or license. Switzerland’s “unfavorable” rate of eight percent is significantly lower than the global average during the last several years, which has ranged between 16 and 23 percent. Embassy Bern’s average response times of 48 days for pre-license checks and 59 days for post-shipment checks are within the normal range globally. While the POL/E section is responsible for coordinating Blue Lantern checks in Switzerland, Stitziel encouraged post to draw on the full range of country team resources, including ICE, DAO, LEGATT,
and Foreign Commercial Service (FCS), when appropriate.
5. (SBU) Discussion focused on the Government of Switzerland’s prohibition against USG officials directly contacting private Swiss companies and individuals concerning end-use checks, as the GOS would consider such “investigations” a violation of Swiss law. The United Kingdom is the only other country that imposes similar restrictions on Blue Lantern checks. According to the standard procedure in Switzerland, Embassy Bern conveys all Blue Lantern requests to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which in turn conducts its own inquiries and responds back to the Embassy. Export control team members commented on the conflicts of interest and ambiguity inherent in this arrangement. The GOS takes an essentially defensive posture toward end-use checks. It is genuinely interested in preventing illicit arms trafficking in Switzerland, but also wishes to avoid embarrassing public disclosures about the involvement of Swiss entities in undesirable or illegal activities abroad. SECO generally is very cooperative and responsive and provides prompt, detailed answers to explicit questions. However, emboffs noted that Swiss officials are not always completely open and candid and have a tendency to provide legalistic and technically correct, but occasionally incomplete, responses. One cannot assume the same level of due diligence that would be exercised by emboffs, as Swiss authorities are unlikely to self-report or to go out of their way to discover and divulge derogatory information on Swiss entities, unless the GOS sees a potential for potentially adverse or embarrassing future consequences. Additional
complications and opaqueness are caused by Switzerland’s extremely federalist structure: federal authorities like SECO usually rely on local authorities in the cantons to conduct and report the results of end-use checks on private Swiss entities.
SWISS OFFICIALS SUPPORT BLUE LANTERN, EAGER TO COLLABORATE, BUT SWISS LAW PROHIBITS DIRECT USG CONTACT WITH PRIVATE SWISS ENTITIES
6. (U) Thanks to the modest size of Switzerland’s federal government, during his visit, Stitziel was able to meet with all of the senior Swiss officials involved in defense trade and export control issues. At SECO, the Swiss agency most important to the functioning of the Blue Lantern program in Switzerland, Stitziel met with Erwin Bollinger, Head of Bilateral Economic Relations, Export Control Policy; Rolf Stalder, Head of Export Control Policy; Simon Pluess, Head of Export Controls for War Materiel; Juergen Boehler, Head of Export Controls for Industrial Products and Special Military Goods; and two export control action officers. Already familiar with many aspects of U.S. export control laws, the SECO officials were very interested in the Blue Lantern program and posed several detailed and informed questions about U.S. laws and regulations. They seemed astonished to learn that Switzerland was one of only two countries worldwide that do not allow USG officials to directly contact local private companies concerning Blue Lantern inquiries. Despite Stitziel’s explanation that Blue Lantern is not a law enforcement investigation but rather a confidence-building exercise, the officials reiterated the GOS’s long-standing position that such checks would violate Swiss law (which prohibits investigations on Swiss territory by foreign agents) and infringe on Swiss sovereignty. At the same time, the SECO officials were quick to express their eagerness to
continue to strengthen our bilateral defense trade by conducting Blue Lantern checks on behalf of the USG. The officials also provided an overview of Switzerland’s export
control regulations and bureaucracy. Consisting of 15 employees, SECO’s export control division issued approximately 500 licenses worth 720 million Swiss francs last year.
7. (U) Stitziel next met with officials from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs’ Center for International Security Policy, including Andreas Friedrich, Head, and Bernhard Gasser, Desk Officer. SECO staffs export license application to this MFA office, which has veto power over applications and pays special attention to proposed exports to “critical countries” where human rights and regional stability are of concern.
8. (SBU) Turning to intelligence and law enforcement aspects of export controls, Stitziel met with officials from the Federal Department of Defense’s Service for Analysis and Prevention (DAP), Switzerland’s domestic intelligence agency for counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, and counter-intelligence. Participants included Marks Kellenberger, Head of Counter-Proliferation; Elvis Cikotic, Chief, War Materiel Division; Patrick Fournier, Chief, Special Military Goods Division; and Claudine Waespe, Liaison Officer. SECO staffs Blue Lantern inquiries that it receives from Embassy Bern to DAP, which maintains a database of intelligence on Swiss firms and provides input on all non-papers. DAP officials were eager to learn about Blue
Lantern and to cooperate and collaborate with Embassy Bern and PM/DTCC. While DAP knows large Swiss companies very well, it is not as familiar with smaller firms and can only
contact them through local canton authorities. DAP is also responsible for end-use monitoring of sensitive exports. However, it currently conducts only post-shipment checks, which are initiated in Bern by a sole action officer who tasks relevant Swiss embassies to obtain end-users’ signatures confirming order and delivery.
9. (U) Stitziel’s final meeting was at Armasuisse, the MOD’s procurement agency and a respondent to several past Blue Lantern inquiries. Participants included Christian Meier, Head, Transportation and Customs; Serge Guignard, Head, International Relations; Peter Emch, Head, Legal & International Affairs; and Alexander Hubler, Attorney, Legal & International Affairs. While the Armasuisse officials were not familiar with the name “Blue Lantern” and the program’s global mission, they personally had responded to past requests for end-use/end-user confirmation and demonstrated significant knowledge of U.S. defense trade control laws and regulations. The officials expressed gratitude for the briefing and direct contact with PM/DTCC, which will allow them to more quickly and efficiently resolve future license application issues.
10. (U) PM/DTCC would like to express its gratitude to Embassy Bern and especially to Richard Rorvig and Diane O’Guerin for their exemplary work in helping to arrange and execute this visit.
CLINTON