Under the agreement, if a Panamanian-flagged vessel is suspected of carrying such cargo, Washington can ask the Panamanian government to confirm the nationality of the ship and authorize its boarding, search, and seizure. It expands on an accord signed two years earlier that allows the U.S. Coast Guard to board ships with Panamanian registry in search of “narcotics.”

Earlier this year Washington signed a similar agreement with Liberia, which has the second-largest registry. Panama and Liberia account for about 30 percent of the world’s commercial shipping tonnage.

The agreements with the two regimes are part of Washington’s Proliferation Security Initiative established in June of last year. The initiative’s stated purpose is to “stop shipments of WMD, delivery systems and related materials flowing to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern.” Washington has used the measure to target the governments of Iran, north Korea, Syria, and Libya.

At a news conference in September before a meeting of the initiative’s “core participants” in Paris, a U.S. spokesman said, “Particularly important to these efforts [is cooperation from] countries that are key flag, coastal or transit states, as well as countries that are used by proliferators in the Weapons of Mass Destruction and missile trafficking efforts.” Washington claims that the governments of China and Pakistan are the source of nuclear weapons technology acquired by Iran, north Korea, and Libya.

In addition to Washington, the “core participants” of the initiative include the governments of Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Poland.

Cooperating countries agree to exchange information on shipments and allow ships and aircraft to be searched when they enter the countries’ waters or airspace.

Three of the participating governments—Washington, London, and Paris—have and continue to develop nuclear weapons. Of the three, Washington has far and away the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and continues to conduct intensive research to develop new variants, from nuclear bunker-buster bombs aimed at north Korea’s underground defenses, to the so-called missile defense shield aimed at giving Washington first strike capability.

In September, German and Italian authorities stopped and seized a German-owned ship allegedly loaded with parts used in the manufacture of enriched uranium after passing through the Suez Canal bound for Libya. The U.S. and British governments used the seizure to pressure Libya to abandon its nuclear weapons program, which it agreed to do last December.  
 
 
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