achilles
07-29-2005, 11:55 AM
25 July 2005
New agreement does not apply to third-party states' vessels
In-Depth Coverage The United States and Cyprus concluded a ship-boarding agreement July 25 as part of the ongoing two-year-old Proliferation Security Initiative to create cooperative partnerships to prevent weapons of mass destruction, WMD delivery systems and related materials from reaching states and nonstate actors of proliferation concern.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Cypriot Foreign Minister Georgios Iacovou signed the agreement that will permit either country to confirm the nationality of an American or Cypriot-flagged ship if it is thought to be carrying a WMD-related cargo. The agreement also allows either side to authorize its flagged vessel to be boarded, its cargo searched, and even for the vessel and suspect cargo to be detained.
The new agreement does not, however, apply to third-party vessels.
This agreement is significant because Cyprus is the world’s sixth-largest ship registry measured by gross tonnage of registered ships.
Cyprus is also the first member of the European Union to sign such an agreement with the United States.
The reciprocal agreement is designed to send the message to potential proliferators that neither nation will tolerate the use of its ships for proliferation-related trade.
Cyprus is the fifth country to sign a ship-boarding agreement with the United States. Previous agreements have been concluded with Liberia, Panama, the Marshall Islands and Croatia.
For more information, see “The Proliferation Security Initiative.”
Following is the text of the Cyprus-U.S. agreement:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/usa/2005/usa-050725-usia01.htm
New agreement does not apply to third-party states' vessels
In-Depth Coverage The United States and Cyprus concluded a ship-boarding agreement July 25 as part of the ongoing two-year-old Proliferation Security Initiative to create cooperative partnerships to prevent weapons of mass destruction, WMD delivery systems and related materials from reaching states and nonstate actors of proliferation concern.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Cypriot Foreign Minister Georgios Iacovou signed the agreement that will permit either country to confirm the nationality of an American or Cypriot-flagged ship if it is thought to be carrying a WMD-related cargo. The agreement also allows either side to authorize its flagged vessel to be boarded, its cargo searched, and even for the vessel and suspect cargo to be detained.
The new agreement does not, however, apply to third-party vessels.
This agreement is significant because Cyprus is the world’s sixth-largest ship registry measured by gross tonnage of registered ships.
Cyprus is also the first member of the European Union to sign such an agreement with the United States.
The reciprocal agreement is designed to send the message to potential proliferators that neither nation will tolerate the use of its ships for proliferation-related trade.
Cyprus is the fifth country to sign a ship-boarding agreement with the United States. Previous agreements have been concluded with Liberia, Panama, the Marshall Islands and Croatia.
For more information, see “The Proliferation Security Initiative.”
Following is the text of the Cyprus-U.S. agreement:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/usa/2005/usa-050725-usia01.htm