ITALY UNDERSTANDING OF U.S. VIEWS ON MERCURY, BUT

UNCLAS ROME 005864 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV IO AORC UNEP SUBJECT: ITALY UNDERSTANDING OF U.S. VIEWS ON MERCURY, BUT EU COUNCIL LIKELY TO ENDORSE BINDING INSTRUMENT PROPOSAL REF: STATE 242216 ¶1. EST COUNS MET DEC.4 WITH GIULIANA GASPARINNI, HEAD OF MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT DIVISION RESPONSIBLE FOR CHEMICALS POLICY AND EU AFFAIRS. SHE AGREED THAT THAT THE USG SUGGESTION TO FORM A MERCURY UNIT WITHIN UNEP WOULD BE UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 05864 060637Z USEFUL, AND ALSO AGREED THAT AN AMENDMENT TO THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION FOR MERCURY IN ADVANCE OF THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE CONVENTION WOULD BE AN INAPPROPRIATE MEASURE. SHE ALSO SAID THAT THE PRIMARY JOB WITH GLOBAL CHEMICALS REGIMES WAS TO IMPLEMENT THOSE ALREADY EXISTING, AND NOT TO NEGOTIATE NEW ONES. ¶2. GASPARRINI THEN ADDED, WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE ALREADY DRAFTED CONCLUSIONS PREPARED FOR THE DEC. 9 ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL MEETING, THAT IT APPEARED LIKELY THAT THE COUNCIL WOULD ENDORSE A BINDING INSTRUMENT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF MERCURY UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE NORDIC EU STATES. SHE PROMISED TO DO WHAT SHE COULD TO MODERATE ANY LANGUAGE THAT MIGHT EMERGE WITH REGARD TO SCOPE AND TIMING, AND TO ARGUE THAT THE U.S.APPROACH PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE FORWARD ON THE ISSUE WITHOUT FALSE STARTS. SEMBLER SEMBLER UNCLASSIFIED > 2002ROME05864 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED