[ RadSafe ] Dutch Piracy

[Marco Caceci]

In August 2013 Dutch Customs seized in Schiphol a shipment of our products,
RadAl(tm)-1 wall mount gamma radiation alarms (www.radal.com) destined to
Iran.

To make a long story short, we have spent now some eight months trying to
get our stuff back and to find out the reasons for this patent act of
piracy. 

Some of us already know that according to EU law (267/2012, regulating
exports to Iran; and 428/2009, enumerating "dual use" items that require a
license), instruments like ours that are "detection equipment limited by
design or function to protect against hazards specific to residential safety
and civil industries, such as mining, quarrying, agriculture,
pharmaceuticals, medical, veterinary, environmental, waste management, or to
the food industry" are <explicitly> not regulated as "double use items",
hence they require no licensing for export and their export to Iran is not
prohibited.

Dutch Customs after some excitement about this Mafia - Iran - Plutonium
conspiracy (they diligently contacted our Spanish police who made a few nice
calls asking if we were doing anything illegal, just in case) passed the
buck on to a Public Prosecutor.

Finally an assistant to an unnamed Prosecutor told us in writing that our
goods are "criminally seized", and they will "examine this criminal case";
and, lo and behold, deigns to give their reasons: our products are cited by
EU law 428/2009, being, they say, class 0A001.j, namely:

- Neutron detection and measuring instruments specially designed or prepared
for determining neutron flux levels within the core of a "nuclear reactor"
and (at the same time), being class 1A004.c:
- Nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) detection systems, specially
designed or modified for detection or identification of . Radioactive
materials "adapted for use in war"

This they summarize as "nuclear detection devices for specific use in
nuclear reactor, respectively state of war". Sic.

The Prosecutor's assistant has no doubts since "the opinion of the Dutch
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that the goods fall under the regulation
267/2012". 

Should I worry? Will the judge believe the Customs Inspectors, the Public
Prosecutor, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (all knowledgeable in
nuclear reactor core neutron flux level meters), or your humble servant -
who is clearly an underground southerner Mafia communist trading in
forbidden nuclear reactor/bomb parts?

It is understandable that a lawyer cannot tell the difference between a
gamma, a neutron, and a turkey. But this one has had eight months to learn,
could have read the user manual or the information we volunteered, or could
have asked an expert for advice. Maybe they got advice from anti-nuclear
activists.

Meanwhile, having obtained favorable opinions from Spanish Customs and the
Spanish Ministry for International Trade, we have resumed our exports to
Iran uneventfully. So we have a situation where under the same EU laws the
same goods going to the same place are seized in Schiphol but are allowed
through Barcelona/Istanbul. 
For a picture of our alarms in place (maybe they are detecting neutrons
above a secret underground reactor core) see
http://www.radal.com/images/iran.jpg  
A redacted copy of the Public Prosecutor's message is at address
http://www.radal.com/images/PubPro1_RED.pdf - please do not bug them, keep
your comments for the judge.

The unlawful sizing of goods in transit on a territory is piracy. Radiation
protection equipment protects people's health, sabotaging its trade is
immoral - hence European law, justly, (still) allows its export to Iran.

I wouldn't have expected this from a country which hosted a "Nuclear
Security Summit 2014 ... aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism around the
globe". Caveat emptor...

In anticipation of my day in court, I would appreciate if any colleague,
particularly if nearby (Holland), in a position of authority (radiation
protection society.) and/or who has ever seen a neutron detector for a
reactor core, could contact me to arrange possible support (letters or
expert testimony).
	
Any advice or comment to me will be welcome. Indeed I would appreciate to
hear your opinion on this case: in particular I cannot decide: is the Public
Prosecutor stupid (in the sense that he/she really believes they have caught
prohibited neutron detectors "adapted for use of war") or evil (in the sense
that he/she knows they speak hogwash, and intend to harass and intimidate)?

Greetings and Thanks

Marco 

Dr Marco Caceci
Principal
L.Q.C. s.l.u., Vilabertran 15, 17130 La Escala, Spain tel +34 902 88 4887
mob +34 607 07 1196 fax +34 972 98 0591 web www.radal.com @
mcaceci at radal.com