Belize and U.S. sign ship search agreement

The United States of America and Belize have signed an agreement that would allow authorities of the two countries to search each other’s ships for weapons of mass destruction. The pact, signed Thursday in Washington, is part of a U.S. Proliferation Security Initiative that seeks to prevent trafficking in such weapons by sovereign states, as well as non-governmental parties. Under the agreement, which applies only to U.S. or Belizean flagged vessels, the boarding party must request authorization for the search, which under the terms of the deal, will be quickly expedited. Belize is the first CARICOM member and sixth country in the world to sign the agreement. The signing is one more step in Belize’s effort to raise the standard of its ship registry, which is operated for the government by IMMARBE.