Brussels, 12/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - Germany agreed on 1 August to cooperate with the US Government in the area of maritime security by authorising the presence of American customs agents in its ports. Following on from Le Havre (France), Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium), the ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven will allow American customs agents to conduct checks on freight containers headed for the United States. Given the concerns that arose over these agreements in the Commission (among Commissioners Loyola de Palacio, Frits Bolkenstein and Pascal Lamy - see Europe of 10 July, p.8 and of 12 July, p.12), the Commission is reviewing their compatibility with European regulations on competition and the internal market. In parallel, at the end of July, a Commission delegation met senior American officials in order to agree on a mandate for the creation of a cooperation group on maritime security with the objectives of: (1) setting into place existing international security measures; (2) exchanging information and technologies in the area of maritime security; (3) coordinating the European and US positions on this issue in international bodies. The cooperation group, which will meet twice yearly and plans to hold consultations with representatives of the maritime sector, will hold its first meeting in September.