VZCZCXRO3969
PP RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #0651/01 0731422
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131422Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3257
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000651 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/RA, SCA/A, EEB, EEB/ESC/IEC (GRIFFIN) 
DEPT PASS AID/ANE, OPIC 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR LILIENFELD AND KLEIN 
DEPT PASS OPIC FOR ZAHNISER 
DEPT PASS TDA FOR STEIN AND GREENIP 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD, JICENT 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
TREASURY FOR ABAUKOL, BDAHL, AND MNUGENT 
MANILA PLEASE PASS ADB/USED 
PARIS FOR USOECD/ENERGY ATTACHE 
OSD FOR SHIVERS, SHINN 
COMMERCE FOR DEES, CHOPPIN, AND FONOVICH 
 
SIPDIS 
 
REF: (A) Kabul 502, (B) SECSTATE 14195 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: ENRG EFIN ETRD KPWR EAID PGOV AF
SUBJECT: AF: Current Afghan preparedness for ROZ implementation 
 
¶1. (SBU) This message is keyed to reftel questions about 
Afghanistan's preparedness to implement the Reconstruction 
Opportunity Zone (ROZ) initiative after it is passed by the U.S. 
Congress.  Although the Afghan government has been slow in its 
preparations and lacks capacity to implement many of the required 
actions, USG and other donor programs being implemented in-country 
can be effectively tapped to bolster ROZ implementation efforts. 
 
¶2. (SBU) TRANSIT TRADE:  What is the current status of IROA and 
local stakeholder discussions to address Pak-Afghan transit trade 
concerns?  As the USG may have resources to assist, Department would 
appreciate assessment from Post on technical vs. political 
considerations for unresolved issues as well as any further 
recommendations. 
 
-- Very few discussions of Pakistan-Afghanistan transit trade issues 
have taken place, despite the fact that both sides complain of 
cross-border trade problems.  The only national forum in which such 
discussions are planned, are follow-on sessions to the August 2007 
Afghan-Pakistan Peace Jirga.  The renegotiation of the 1965 Afghan 
Trade and Transit Agreement (ATTA) would offer an excellent 
opportunity to address transit trade concerns.  Although the two 
sides have yet to set any date for ATTA negotiations, this issue may 
be addressed at the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference (RECC) 
to be held in Islamabad in April 2008.  Other than localized 
discussions between customs and border officials of both nations at 
specific border crossing points, we are not aware of any current 
exchanges. 
 
-- With regard to technical considerations, a 
USAID/Afghanistan-funded study on cross-border transportation issues 
revealed Pakistan's primary concerns to be: a) lack of insurance 
among Afghanistan vehicles; b) the poor condition of Afghanistan 
vehicles (operation beyond their useful life, and safety), and c) 
lack of competence among Afghanistan drivers.  In response, USAID 
programming is targeting interventions along the value chain to 
mitigate these concerns during the next few months.  USAID 
assistance has helped to establish the first Afghanistan insurance 
company which will now allow for drivers to carry insurance (though 
enforcement may not be immediate), fostered a GDA partnership with 
U.S. Ford Motor Company to make used cars with an average age of 5-8 
years old available for lease, and establishment of a driving school 
for Afghans to receive driver training. 
 
¶3. (SBU) LABOR: What training, local legislation or local solutions 
are necessary to ensure that labor standards within the ROZ's would 
meet minimum international standards? 
 
-- Please see ref A. 
 
¶4. (SBU) How will host governments and industry monitor and protect 
workers rights within the ROZ's? 
 
This can be addressed in general terms if/when additional resources 
for ROZ become available. 
 
¶5. (SBU) TRANSSHIPMENT OF GOODS: What mechanisms are in place or can 
be developed to monitor and prevent transshipment of goods seeking 
duty-free access to U.S. markets that were not produced in an ROZ? 
 
-- Few mechanisms exist, but they can be created.  The danger of 
transshipment is more an issue of geography.  If there are 
transshipment dangers, they can be expected from two sources - 
primarily China and possibly Iran.  Transshipment from Pakistan is 
unlikely because it would be easier to falsify the location of the 
production within the qualified zones in Pakistan, than to involve 
Afghans in a fraud. 
 
KABUL 00000651  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
-- Regarding China, Afghanistan has fewer than 75 miles of 
contiguous border with China in the very rugged Wakhan Corridor area 
of Badakhshan Province.  The process of moving significant 
quantities of textiles or such into Afghanistan to take advantage of 
the ROZ benefits via the Corridor seem to be more trouble than it 
would be worth since the material would still have to be moved out 
of that most isolated portion of Afghanistan to the United States. 
Verification would be possible although the effort might also be 
more costly than any enforcement benefit as well.  Any other 
movement of Chinese material for transshipment purposes would 
involve moving through Afghanistan's northern neighbors by truck or 
by air through Kabul Airport.  This would expose the would-be 
transshipper to banditry on the road, or to greater law enforcement 
exposure with the most effective units of the Afghan Customs 
Department (ACD), a division of the Ministry of Finance. 
 
-- The border with Iran poses more problems.  The degree of control 
that ACD central management has over the Iranian border provinces is 
limited, and control mechanisms would be difficult to put into place 
and audit.  Nevertheless, the sudden appearance of any manufactured 
goods from the western part of Afghanistan would immediately raise 
questions, since this area is primarily agricultural, involved in 
narcotics production, and highly contested by insurgent and 
government forces. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Would appropriate local authorities be open to U.S. customs 
verification teams monitoring and enforcing those anti-transshipment 
measures contained in ROZ legislation? 
 
-- The Afghan Customs Department (ACD) is committed to the idea of 
creating mobile verification teams to post audit compliance with 
import requirements in connection with traffic through border 
crossing points.  These teams would be similar in function and form 
to the verification teams above.  If U.S. government verification 
efforts were presented as an adjunct to this ACD initiative, the ACD 
response is more likely to be positive.  The Embassy's Border 
Management Task Force (BMTF) can support and liaise with the 
verification teams both upon entry into Afghanistan and for on-site 
visits, particularly to Afghan border crossing points, where the 
BMTF has mentors and resources on site. 
 
¶7. (SBU) RULES OF ORIGIN:  What mechanisms are in place or can be 
developed to monitor and document rules of origin to ensure that 35 
percent of the value of the products comes from ROZ processing? 
 
-- Our experience with the details of ACD law indicates that there 
are currently no such rules or mechanisms since country of origin is 
not an issue of great impact/priority at this time.  International 
donor support or Embassy support through the Economics Section, the 
Rule of Law Section, the BMTF, or other interested parties could 
assist the ACD in creating such rules and procedures to carry them 
out.  Pending availability of future resources for ROZs, this issue 
could be addressed under a new USAID program under design which will 
focus on trade facilitation. 
 
¶8. (SBU) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:  For the types of products to 
be produced in an ROZ, does Post antcipate IPR concerns? 
 
-- Based on discussionswith interested business groups, initial 
prodction in Afghan ROZ's is likely to center aroun textiles and 
their finishing (as allowed by he legislation).  Therefore it is 
unlikely IPR concerns will come to the fore until several years down 
the road as Afghanistan's manufacturing capacity, as well as its 
ability to enforce IPR protections, matures.  Pending availability 
of future resources for ROZ, USAID can address this issue. 
 
 
KABUL 00000651  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) VETTING OF COMPANIES:  Please describe institutional 
capacity for how governments will screen and/or select companies 
that can derive ROZ benefits. 
 
-- Currently there is no process in place within the Ministry of 
Commerce and Industry (MOCI), Afghanistan Investment Support Agency 
(AISA), or Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan (EPAA) for 
selecting firms to participate in ROZs.  However, EPAA has had 
experience identifying companies for foreign trade shows and fairs, 
and this capacity could be the foundation for facilitating such a 
process for ROZs.  In addition, OPIC has supported several U.S. 
investors that have established Afghan operations that may also eed 
into an identification process from the US side.  Pending 
availability of future resoures for ROZs, USAID can provide 
assistance to address this issue and the Economic Section can 
provide advice to the government ministries and agencies. 
 
¶10. (SBU) OVERALL ASSESSMENT:  Based on business interest, 
government support and any other local issues, how quickly does post 
envision ROZ activities beginning after U.S. Congressional action on 
ROZ legislation? 
 
-- Although there is currently some business and government interest 
in ROZ development/activities, more substantive interest will depend 
largely on the comprehensiveness of textile products eligible for 
ROZs.  Depending upon Congressional restrictions on tariff lines, 
interest in the ROZ project could vary. 
 
Wood