The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. Launched by United States President, George W. Bush in May 2003 at a meeting in Kraków, Poland, the PSI has now grown to include the endorsement of 105 nations around the world, including Russia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, New Zealand, Republic of Korea and Norway.

Despite the support of over half of the Members of the United Nations, a number of countries have expressed opposition to the initiative, including India, China and Indonesia.

History

The idea of the PSI is generally credited to John R. Bolton, former US Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, after 15 Scud missiles found on board an unflagged North Korean freighter, the So Sen, heading towards Yemen had to be released when it turned out that international law did not allow them to be confiscated. Given this apparent gap in international law, several months later US President Bush announced the initiative with his counterpart, Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski at Wawel Castle in Kraków on May 31, 2003.

Initially, the PSI included 11 "core" states (Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, the US and Poland). On September 4, 2003, in Paris, these countries detailed the principles governing the PSI in a document titled the "Statement of Interdiction Principles". The document defines the activities which are to be undertaken by the initiative, specifically "to establish a more coordinated and effective basis through which to impede and stop shipments of WMD, delivery systems, and related materials flowing to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern, consistent with national legal authorities and relevant international law and frameworks, including the UN Security Council circumstances in which such operations may be carried out (at sea, on land, or in the air) including, most importantly, the requirement that any action taken must be consistent with international law." Since the initial core group of 2003, PSI has expanded to include an "Operational Experts Group" (OEG) of 21 nations as well as 84 other endorsing states. Key states who have endorsed the initiative since its initial founding include major actors in international trade such as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, as well as countries such as Turkey and the Republic of Korea, who are geographically close to states designated by United Nations Security Council resolutions as proliferation threats.

Eleven nations have signed bilateral Mutual Shipboarding Agreements with the United States, allowing the mutual expedition of shipboarding requests for ships under those nations' flags. The Eleven are the Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Croatia, Cyprus, Liberia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Panama and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Each of these nations maintains a large number of commercial vessels on their registries, and are often considered flag of convenience states.For the text of these bilateral agreements, see this U.S. Department of State web pageFor an academic analysis of shipboarding in the PSI context, see

In April 2009, at a speech in Prague, Czech Republic, newly inaugurated President Barack Obama announced that he planned to transform the PSI into a "durable international institution", indicating that US promotion of the initiative would remain non-partisan and cross over from the previous administration. Indeed, Obama had made the strengthening of the PSI one of his campaign promises in the Presidential election of 2008 and continued to promote the PSI through the 2010 White House Nuclear Security Strategy.

The 2013 PSI High Level Political Meeting facilitated the adoption of a set of four Joint Statements, advancing cooperation among PSI endorsing states toward: - Ensuring a Robust Initiative - Enhancing Critical Interdiction Capabilities and Practices - Strengthening Authorities for Action - Expanding Strategic Communications

Progress on implementation was reviewed at the PSI Mid-Level Political Meeting in January 2016, hosted in Washington, DC. Another PSI High Level Political Meeting will be hosted in France in 2018.

Since 2003, The PSI has addressed a much wider array of proliferation security issues, such as customs enforcement, export controls, proliferation finance, and intangible transfers of technology. Given its broad and flexible mandate, the PSI now advances proliferation security norms and standards of practice.

Participation

The primary role of PSI participants is to abide by the Statement of Interdiction Principles, with the primary purpose of interdicting subject weapons and materials. Additionally, participants are recommended to enact legal statutes to facilitate effective interdiction and seizure of such items. Finally, participants are to take measures to ensure that their national facilities are not utilized to transfer illicit weapon cargoes.

The PSI also supports the maintenance of an informal network of transgovernmental linkages that sustain cooperation outside of the formal PSI framework.

In the United States, the program is managed by the National Security Staff working out of the White House, with the United States Department of State and the United States Department of Defense playing lead roles; with other departments and agencies in supporting roles.

Participation in PSI activities generally include OEG meetings, live exercises, command post exercises, tabletop exercises, seminars, workshops, and other WMD Interdiction training. Current members include:

Afghanistan Albania Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas, The Bahrain Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Chile Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Estonia Equatorial Guinea Fiji Finland France Federated States of Micronesia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Holy See Honduras Hungary Iceland Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Korea, Republic of Kyrgyzstan Kuwait Latvia Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malaysia Malta Marshall Islands Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Oman Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Samoa Saudi Arabia San Marino Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sri Lanka St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Thailand Togo Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Trinidad and Tobago Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vietnam Yemen Zambia

Critical Capabilities and Practices (CCP)

Endorsing states are developing a formal set of tools called Critical Capabilities and Practices (CCP) for use by all PSI partners to aid in their ability to interdict WMD. An ongoing effort, the CCP is organized into four elements:

Element 1. Prohibiting Proliferation-Related Conduct – Having in place appropriate legal authorities to prohibit and prevent proliferation activity within and across one’s border

Element 2. Inspection and Identification – The ability to effectively inspect air, land, and sea cargos and to identify proliferation-related materials

Element 3. Seizure and Disposition – The ability to undertake appropriate actions to seize and dispose of interdiction-related materials

Element 4. Rapid Decision Making – The development of decision-making practices that facilitate timely government responses to interdiction scenarios

Examples of these capacity building tools include:

• Model Legislation

• Commodity identification guides and associated training

• Legal analyses of UN Security Council Resolutions

• Expert briefings on inspection methodologies

• Best practices associated with information sharing and decision-making procedures

The CCP effort is advanced by the CCP Review Team, launched in 2015. The Review Team seeks to enhance the resources available to PSI endorsing countries through compiling a library of tools and resources and through assisting in the coordination of capacity building events and exercises. Review Team members include: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia, and the United States.

Interdictions and events The PSI has no central body or secretariat and is not a coordinator of real-world interdictions. It is a political commitment, a flexible arrangement of international cooperation and is consistent with domestic and international legal authorities. Endorsing states seek a robust capacity to conduct interdictions that usually involve only two or three governments.

On December 9, 2002 the intercepted and boarded the freighter So San, several hundred miles southeast of Yemen at the request of the U.S. government as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The So San, sailing without a flag, attempted evasive action, so the Navarra after firing four warning shots into the water at the bow of the ship and rifle fire on the ship's hull, getting no answer, fired on a cable crossing the So San from bow to stern to remove obstacles and proceeded to approach it from a helicopter. The ship from North Korea was carrying a cargo of 15 Scud missiles, 15 conventional warheads with 250 kg of high explosive, 23 fuel tanks of nitric acid and 85 drums of chemicals. Yemen subsequently reported that the cargo belonged to them and protested against interception, ordering the materials returned. Although this incident occurred prior to the establishment of the PSI, it is cited as being a major reason for the PSI's establishment. In September 2003, Germany obtained information that the BBC China, an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel, was transporting nuclear-related materials to Libya as on behalf of the Abdul Qadeer Khan proliferation network. The German government dispatched intelligence experts to Italy, who conducted an inspection of the ship in the Mediterranean with the support of the US Navy. The inspection revealed that the ship's container number was fabricated and the German government confiscated the nuclear-related equipment (aluminum tubes that can be converted into centrifuges). Although some sources cite this interdiction as an early success of the PSI, others dispute the initiative's relationship to this event. In an embarrassing "failure" of the PSI, in April 2005 Germany authorized the export of a high-tech crane aboard the vessel Hual Africa that could be utilized in Iran's Shahab-4 missile program. In June 2009, the North Korean vessel Kang Nam believed to be headed to Myanmar turned around after being tracked by the US Navy. In the same timeframe, two Japanese and one Korean man were arrested for trying to import WMD technology to Myanmar. After this incident, North Korea claimed that it would engage in military action in retaliation for any searching of its ships. On September 22, 2009, South Korea seized North Korean containers transiting the port of Busan which contained protective clothing used to protect against chemical weapons.