VZCZCXRO0215
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #0126/01 0160500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160500Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4735
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000126 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EFIN EAID ECON PREL AF
SUBJECT: BMTF/DHS meeting with Finance Minister Zakhilwal 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a December 20, 2009 meeting, Border Management 
Task Force Director Ortiz met with Finance Minister Zakhilwal and 
Deputy Minister Sabit to provide an overview of the current mission 
set and incoming DHS elements and to discuss the Minister's vision 
to take the Customs Department to the next level.  Minister 
Zakhilwal advised that Minister of Interior Atmar is a close friend, 
which would lead to progress on border issues.  Reiterating his 
support for current BMTF projects, Zakhilwal related his 
appreciation for the Ambassador's support to the Finance Ministry 
and Afghan Customs Department through the BMTF program and welcomed 
the addition of incoming DHS personnel as partners in customs reform 
and enforcement efforts.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
BACKGROUND ON CUSTOMS ACADEMY 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Relating that the Grand Opening of the Customs Academy 
would be on January 19, BMTF Director advised that the academy will 
continue training similar to the December 6 Bulk Cash Smuggling 
(BCS) seminar.  Minister Zakhilwal was pleased that the Academy 
would open in January and encouraged establishment of a permanent 
facility.  BMTF Director responded that the intent was to expand the 
Afghan National Customs Academy (ANCA) to include specialty training 
similar to the BCS seminar and leadership schools for his officers. 
He expressed appreciation for the international flavor of the ANCA 
Cadre and looked forward to the Opening Ceremony. 
 
--------- 
MENTORING 
--------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) BMTF Director advised Minister Zakhilwal that the mentoring 
program would be expanded to include the Kabul HQ, Airport, 
additional Border Crossing Points, and Inland Customs Depots. 
Zakhilwal responded that he believed the Customs mentors provided 
guidance and direction his agencies needed and welcomed the 
oversight.  The Minister asked that mentoring also include the 
Kandahar Airport and other sites outside of Torkham and Islam Qalah. 
 BMTF has a projected force lay-down based upon priorities and will 
be routing this document through the front office for validation. 
 
--------- 
EQUIPMENT 
--------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Upon hearing that BMTF/DHS will be delivering equipment and 
field training via the Customs and Border Protection Officers 
assigned to the DHS office and will facilitate dedicated EXBS 
equipment to the field, the Minister asked that his officers be 
provided the tools and resources not only to conduct inspections but 
also to improve the flow of commercial traffic. 
 
--------------- 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) BMTF Director advised the Minister of his intent to seek 
additional funding for Zaranj and Andkhoi border points based upon 
Zakhilwal's September 30, 2009 letter to Ambassador Eikenberry and 
the Ambassador's response.  He expressed appreciation for the 
Weesh/Chaman border project, adding that he understood land 
acquisition remained an issue and volunteering that he would 
intervene with Minister of Agriculture Rahimi and President Karzai 
to ensure the project stayed on track.  BMTF Director said he has 
been coordinating with the Director General Customs Bismellah 
Kammawie, hoped to have the land finalized within four weeks, and 
planned to implement a new process during the Weesh/Chaman project 
to include the establishment of a Project Delivery Team (PDT) to 
design and construct the Border Control Point.  The PDT will be 
comprised of Afghan Customs and Border Police Managers and 
international partners supporting the project.  Ownership, efficient 
design, and a serviceable facility are the delivery goals of the PDT 
process, the BMTF Director explained.  The Minister expressed 
appreciation for our plan. 
 
------------------ 
STRATEGIC GUIDANCE 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Minister Zakhilwal reported that he has been designated 
lead GIRoA representative at the January 28 London Conference, 
adding that he wanted to include border issues and Customs 
Department reform in the preparatory papers.  He maintained that 
this agency had the most potential and met the criteria on the 
reform agenda.  The Minister insisted that while the customs 
department is plagued by corruption, it could be reformed with 
international support.  Zakhilwal specifically stated that he would 
like USG assistance in the customs area the months between the 
London and Kabul Conferences and expressed hope that we would help 
develop benchmarks and requirements based upon USG knowledge of 
Customs processes.  Included in the discussion was the upcoming plan 
 
KABUL 00000126  002 OF 002 
 
 
to implement the World Bank/BMTF Process Mapping initiative, which 
he considered an excellent starting point to help anti-corruption 
efforts. 
 
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CORRUPTION 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Minister acknowledged that corruption was a huge 
problem in several areas within the Customs Department.  He stressed 
that transparency was his goal and U.S. ability to assist him 
through the Internal Audit process would improve his efforts to 
clean up the Department.  BMTF Director responded that integration 
of the Mobile Verification Teams partnered with the MoI Mobile 
Enforcement Teams could act as force multipliers.  BMTF recommended 
that DHS/ICE provide support and mentoring for his Office of 
Internal Audit, as similar initiatives exist with DHS in which ICE 
has the lead.  Minister Zakhilwal welcomed the assistance and urged 
U.S. mentors to stress "good behavior competencies" when dealing 
with his officers. 
 
------------- 
MoF/ACD GOALS 
------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Minister Zakhilwal stated that while Customs Revenue has 
increased significantly over the last fiscal year, some 35 percent 
of potential customs revenue was being lost through abuses of the 
Military Technical Agreement.  Stressing that numerous embassies and 
NGOs were shipping non-exempt goods under the MTA umbrella, he 
sought BMTF assistance in improving the process.  BMTF advised that 
it was looking at streamlining the process and developing a modern 
solution to include the Ministry of Commerce facility at Torkham and 
revamping and training NGOs on filing paperwork for exempt goods. 
The Minister related the alleged FedEx Corruption case, in which 
several employees have been accused of smuggling illicit cargo, and 
similar issues concerning fuel originally destined for ISAF.  BMTF 
Director advised the Minister that discussions and plans to address 
these issues were underway at the highest levels of the Embassy and 
ISAF. 
 
------ 
AF/PAK 
------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) Relating that trade across all of Afghanistan's borders is 
an important issue, the Minister welcomed discussions with Pakistan 
on border issues.  Commenting that existing facilities were not 
equipped to handle current volumes of trade, he also welcomed 
BMTF/DHS assistance to facilitate it.  He wanted his officers to be 
more than "revenue collectors," expecting them to be the "deliverers 
of services" and "brokers of trade."  His message was that the 
commercial community should look favorably upon the Afghan Customs 
Department as public servants. 
 
---------------------------- 
Interior/Finance Ministries 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) BMTF Director expressed interest in seeing the Interior 
and Finance ministries become more aligned in their enforcement and 
security efforts along the border.  The Minister was advised of the 
Afghan BCP's dual purpose of commerce and security and the continued 
coordination as designated in the Memoranda of Understanding signed 
by both ministries on July 14, 2009 would bring consistency in 
operations and decrease duplication of effort.  Recommendations to 
begin joint training and cross designation between the Ministries 
were discussed, with the Minister commenting that this was the 
correct course of action.  Lamenting his inability to discipline 
officers assigned to other ministries working in the Customs 
environment, the Minister expressed the view that the Finance 
Ministry should be the lead at all BCPs. 
 
¶11. (SBU) BMTF Director encouraged the Minister to support a meeting 
of Afghan ministers to ban/regulate ammonium nitrate and pre-cursor 
chemicals used to make IEDs.  Minister Zakhilwal said he understood 
the importance of the ISAF-Afghan Counter IED Initiative and offered 
his ministry's full support to combat this scourge.  BMTF Director 
advised that along with current USG assets, the incoming DHS group 
would be instrumental in this effort.  Zakhilwal welcomed the 
assistance and stated he would work with both the Interior and 
Defense ministries to regulate or ban the substances. 
 
EIKENBERRY