Security conditions vary on foreign sales, DHS official says

Security conditions vary on foreign sales, DHS official says A top Homeland Security official said Thursday that security conditions that have been placed on foreign investments in other industry sectors do not necessarily apply in the sale of port infrastructure to a state-owned business in Dubai.
   The Associated Press reported that the Bush administration did not require Dubai Ports World, which has a contract to buy British ports operator P&O for $6.8 billion, to keep copies of its business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests for information. Legal experts consider those types of obligations routine for U.S. approval of foreign sales, the wire service said.
   But those type of concessions are typical for agreements involving telecommunications companies and were not necessary in the case of DP World, said Stewart Baker, assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.
   When foreign investment occurs in the telecom industry the government requires an American point-of-contact because by law    U.S. citizens are only allowed to receive classified warrants for wiretaps when law enforcement officers are conducting an investigation, he said.
   And the stipulation that documents be stored on domestic soil is primarily imposed on telecom companies in order to ensure the privacy of caller records.
   “I don’t think anybody feels the same way about (having these protections) for a 100 tons of sorghum,” Baker told Shippers NewsWire.
   “You do tailor these agreements to the industry” and the assurances DP World provided were much more than had ever been required before in the port industry, he said.
   Administration officials have said that the state-owned company agreed to upgrade its participation in the Container Security Initiative and adopt P&O’s security commitments under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Participation in both Customs and Border Protection programs is now mandatory instead of voluntary.
   Under CSI, Dubai Customs inspects select export containers at the request of U.S. officers stationed at the Port of Jebel Ali.
   But according to a copy of the confidential assurance letter DHS shared with Congress late Thursday, the commitment appears less definitive than described.
   “The companies further assure that, should they propose material changes with respect to maintenance of their level of membership in, cooperation with, or support for these security arrangements, the companies will provide at least 30 days advance written notice of such proposal ' detailing the reasons, timing and plans for such proposed changes” and address and security concerns they raise, the letter said.
   DP World’s obligations also require it to assist U.S. law enforcement agencies and disclose any information concerning the operation of the company’s facilities, equipment or services and provide any relevant records that may exist of foreign efforts to control operations in any of its U.S. facilities, thereby allowing DHS to gather information about any DP World employees working in the United States and to screen or investigate them, the letter said.
   DP World also agreed to maintain P&O’s existing security policies and procedures at the U.S. facilities — including security personnel — and provide written notice to DHS if those policies or procedures change.
   Finally, DP World will operate the domestic facilities with the current U.S. management structure, to the extent possible, the letter said.
   Even after a transaction closes, the president has the authority to reopen a review of the company by the multi-agency Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States if relevant information was misrepresented or omitted, can take the company to court to enforce a breach of the agreement, or even force the company to divest, according to DHS and private attorneys familiar with the law.