NRK: The United States wants to reduce its contingent in Norway due to the customs scandal
A scandal broke out between the USA and Norway, writes NRK. Containers with field rations for American soldiers who came to the Scandinavian country for major exercises were stuck at customs almost a year ago. Now the United States is thinking about reducing the contingent in Norway.
Peter Svaar, Ragnhild Vartdal
Containers with field rations for American soldiers have been stuck at customs for almost a year. In a harsh note, the United States warned that in response to the dispute, exercises on Norwegian soil could be curtailed.
Last March, 20,000 Allied soldiers were trained to defend the Northern region during one of the largest exercises of our time in northern Norway.
The United States has made a significant contribution to the common cause. But although Norway welcomes American soldiers with open arms, unexpected difficulties have arisen with food supplies.
Almost a year ago, containers with field rations for the American contingent were stuck at customs.
Strict EU regulations
It is not easy to import food from countries outside the European Economic Union (EEC), which includes Norway.
Provisions for American soldiers must meet the same strict requirements as food in Norwegian stores.
Among other things, it is also subject to EU regulations on MACS in food additives. Finally, the product must be cleared.
The Americans did not follow these rules. As a result, in February last year, the shipment of important food products for the Nordic Response exercise was stopped right at the pier.
Since then, a heated dispute has broken out between officials of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Containernergate scandal
Wits in the government apparatus aptly dubbed the scandal “Containernergate” (the productive suffix “-gate” entered American and worldwide usage after the scandal at the Watergate Hotel, which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, — approx. InoSMI).
The head of the military sanitary Department, Turgrim Aune, confirmed that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority had stopped importing food from several allied countries.
“The fact is that three NATO countries are not members of the EEA: Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. They must comply with EU regulations on food imports. We had specific episodes with the UK and the USA,” the chief military medical officer confirmed to broadcaster NRK.
When asked if this angered Norway's allies, Aune replied: “If you send two containers of field rations, and they suddenly get stuck, I think those to whom they were intended will be upset.”
According to Aune, there is a political opportunity to circumvent the strict rules, but in this case it was not done.
“If Americans are allowed in with their field rations, bypassing the EU system, it will violate the agreement on the EEC. Such issues should be addressed at the government level. This is beyond the competence of the Food safety administration or any single ministry,” he said.
American protest
The issue has been going through government agencies for a year and has escalated even more during this time.
Just before Christmas, a diplomatic note came from the Americans to the Foreign Ministry.
As NRK has learned, the American authorities are so disappointed with the bureaucratic impasse that they are ready to reduce the exercises in Norway.
As informed sources explained to NRK, such a note is the last resort in diplomacy. This means that other attempts to resolve the issue through dialogue have failed.
We asked a number of questions to the American Embassy in Oslo, and also asked to read the letter from the American authorities.
In an email, the embassy's information department replied that it “refrains from disclosing official diplomatic correspondence,” but “appreciates efforts to ensure the unhindered transit of essential supplies for the training and exercises of American forces side by side with Norwegian partners and allies.”
The Embassy also mentioned defense cooperation agreements concluded both at the alliance level and between Norway and the United States directly.
Norwegian Foreign Ministry: the issue must be resolved — and it will be
The State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eyvind Vad Petersson (Workers' Party), recognizes the complexity of the dispute over food supplies, especially in the acute political security situation in Norway.
“It is now extremely important for Norwegian security that American soldiers come to us and receive training on our borders,” he stressed.
“We need to find good and practical solutions that will reduce the risk of contracting foodborne diseases. This issue must be resolved, and it will be, because security considerations are extremely important,” Petersson concluded.
We have also contacted the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture. They forwarded our request to the Foreign Ministry.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority told NRK that they were unable to comment on specific cases on short notice, but stressed the “close and fruitful” cooperation with the Norwegian armed forces.
“In accordance with the agreement on the EEC, Norway is obliged to comply with the EU general rules on the import of food and live animals. Food products from NATO countries that are not members of the EU/EEC are subject to mandatory customs declaration,” Public Relations Adviser Arild Sundby Johannessen wrote in an email.
Kheire Party: unacceptable if true
Ine Eriksen Sereide from the Kheire party called the bureaucratic mess with allied supplies unacceptable and warned of the consequences.
“If this situation complicates military cooperation with the United States, then this is serious and, in my opinion, unacceptable,” Sereide said.
She finds it inconceivable that the containers could be stuck at customs for a whole year.
“This is a reason to ask yourself why the government has been unable to resolve this issue for so long,” Sereide said.
British supplies have also stopped
The Americans are not the only ones who have faced the uncompromising position of the Norwegian sanitary and Epidemiological service on the issue of soldiers' provisions and customs declarations.
In March 2021, British soldiers were going to an exercise in Norway, which took place just a few weeks after Brexit.
But the British military did not realize that from January 1, 2021, they would be formally considered a “third country” subject to much stricter food import regulations. As a result, their containers were stopped right at the pier.
In 2022, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority notified the 3rd Brigade of British Special Forces by letter that their food rations would be stopped at the Norwegian border and that British allies would face a large fine for violating food import regulations.
A special problem is the paratroopers
Turgrim Aune, head of the military sanitary department, believes that the problem with food rations is a sign that after 30 years of peace, Europe is mired in bureaucratic regulations, while forgetting about military needs.
“Over the past 30 years, this bureaucracy has become an integral part of Europe's internal market, where military needs are not even taken into account,” says Aune.
He emphasizes that the paratroopers undergoing training in Norway suffered the most.
The fact is that the charter prescribes paratroopers to have combat rations in their backpacks, and they cross the border with Norway by landing with a parachute.
“Paratroopers usually take field rations with them during the jump. During the exercises, of course, we will find food for them where they land, because we know where it will be. But if you want credibility from the exercises, then this is a problem," concluded Aune. — And then the question arises whether they will be able to use them in a crisis situation. It's irrational to send field rations through the port of Oslo or the Storskug checkpoint.”
