Foreign Vessel Matters; MOTR Protocols

Environmental crimes, including both pollution and wildlife crimes, may involve the interdiction at sea of foreign-flagged vessels. Because such actions may involve international treaties and laws and may adversely affect the foreign relations of the United States, they are covered by the Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) Protocols which subsumes Presidential Directive 27 of January 19, 1978, establishing a mandatory consultation process among interested federal agencies for non-military incidents that could have such an adverse effect (formerly referred to as the "PD-27 process").

In an environmental context, a potential maritime interdiction generally will be initiated by the Coast Guard, which notifies the Department of State, thereby setting in motion the coordination activities among the MOTR agencies involved. A conference call among the interested MOTR agencies is convened to discuss options and obtain interagency concurrence for an approved course of action. ECS participates in the MOTR coordination activities for situations involving potential pollution or wildlife crimes. When a particular district will be affected by a foreign-flagged vessel interdiction, that United States Attorney's Office is consulted. When MOTR coordination activities are unable to achieve interagency consensus on the course of action, the matter will be resolved by the White House. A proposed MOTR action cannot proceed without either consensus among the agencies or a resolution by the White House.

[updated April 2018]