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Cablegate: Blue Lantern Level 3: Post-Shipment End-Use Check On

Published: Thu 30 Oct 2008 08:07 AM
VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHFR #1987 3040807
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300807Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4682
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0294
UNCLAS PARIS 001987
SIPDIS
STATE FOR PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC FR
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: POST-SHIPMENT END-USE CHECK ON
LICENSE 050081672
REFS: A) STATE 063355 B) STATE 0113010
1. Embassy met with Eurotradia International Services Division Chief
Charles de Montesquieu (Tel: +33 1 40 76 26 50;
email:cdemontesquieu@eurotradia.fr) for clarification of subject
shipment.
2. Montesquieu informed us that Eurotradia (established as Office
Generale de l'Aeronautique I 1920) is 77.9 percent owned by six
stockholder companies: Total, Thales, EADS, Dassault Aviation, BBDA
and Snecma/Safran Group. It provides consulting services in
addition to acting as a parts and repairs broker, primarily in
military and civil aviation, but also in energy. Approximately 95
percent of its parts and repairs business involves selling French
components and services outside of France.
3. In response to the questions proposed (reftel)
-- End-User Documentation: Eurotradia staff produced a
Non-Transfer/End User Certificate (DSP-83) signed by Colonel Deputy
Director General Purchasing Yahya Yousuf Abdulla Al Baloushi on
December 12, 2007. Montesquieu added that under provisions ("DDU")
of the company's contract with the Abu Dhabi Air Force, Eurotradia
had to deliver the subject component -- as will all parts --
directly to the relevant airbase.
-- Recordkeeping: Staff members explained recordkeeping procedures
for all transactions, including but not limited to arms export
licensing records. The company's export licensing officer said that
subject export item never came under French jurisdiction, but under
French arms export rules had to be recorded in an "intermediation"
register that is stored in a safe and is inspected every six months
by police authorities, after which a copy is sent to the French
defense export authorities.
-- Primary Clients: Montesquieu told us that Eurotradia primarily
serves the Middle East and Africa, with some clients in Asia and the
Americas. Its six biggest customers are Abu Dhabi, Pakistan,
Kuwait, Jordan, Cameroon and Qatar military entities. Sales since
January 1, 2008 amount to 32 million euros, over 7 million of which
were to the Abu Dhabi Air Force.
-- Familiarity with U.S. Export Control Rules: Although Montesquieu
said Eurotradia rarely handles parts from outside of France, his
staff clearly understood that they would not have been able to
formally place their order with the U.S. supplier, Defense
Technology Equipment, without producing a valid DSP-83.
Montesquieu, who has previously worked in Washington DC noted that
Eurotradia has a small office in Washington DC that bids on French
military procurement contracts issued via the French Embassy,
largely for C-130 parts.
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