Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05VIENNA1438
2005-05-02 16:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Vienna
Cable title:  

AUSTRIAN RESPONSE: INTERNATIONAL HEALTH

Tags:  TBIO PREL PTER AU WHO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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

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