AUSTRIAN RESPONSE: INTERNATIONAL HEALTH

UNCLAS VIENNA 001438 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO PREL PTER AU WHO SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE: INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS DEMARCHE REF: STATE 73041 ¶1. (U) On April 25, we conveyed reftel talking points to appropriate offices in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. DAO will present talking points to the Ministry of Defense at earliest opportunity. ¶2. (SBU) On May 2, EconPol Unit Chief followed up with Hubert Hrabcik, Section Chief in the MoH's Public Health Division. Hrabcik said Austria would follow the EU consensus regarding revisions to the International Health Regulations (IHRs). Hrabcik noted that, in principle, the GoA was not opposed to the USG positions on intentional and accidental releases; chemical, biological, and radionuclear events; and a federal-state clause for the IHR. Concerning the other reftel points -- flexibility for an armed forces provisions and a high threshold for rejecting reservations -- Hrabcik admitted that the EU was still discussing these points internally. Hrabcik opined that the EU views on all these issues were relatively flexible, and that the main opposition to the USG positions would come from non-European regions and countries, particularly China and Iran. Brown