CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002490

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC
COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN)
NSC FOR DICASAGRANDE
WINPAC FOR WALTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE
WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 17

This is CWC-106-06.

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WORKING GROUP FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE SECOND REV CON
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1. (U) Ambassador Parker (UK) chaired a meeting of the RevCon
Working Group (WG) on November 13. The agenda for the
meeting was: (1) Involvement of external bodies in the review
process (continued from earlier meetings); (2) The role of
the CWC in enhancing international peace and security
(initial discussion on this topic). Three support documents
were also distributed: (1) "Modalities of the Participation
of External Bodies in the Review Process", a chairman's
proposal; (2) a background paper by the Technical Secretariat
entitled "Note on the Involvement of External Bodies in the
First Review Conference", dated September 22; and (3) a
background paper by the TS entitled "Developments Related to
Issues that were Considered at the First Special Session of
the Conference of the States Parties to Review the Operation
of the Chemical Weapons Convention", dated September 22.


2. (U) The chairman presented an overview of his paper on the
modalities of the participation of external bodies. Many
delegations intervened with questions and ideas about the
relationship between external bodies' written submissions and
their participation in the RevCon, deadlines for written
submissions and the vetting process for what is published on
the OPCW external server, the contents of the proposed
chairman's open letter to interested bodies outside the OPCW,
status of documents that are published on the OPCW external
server, anticipated 2007 meetings with industry and other
external bodies and their timing, role of the Bureau in
dealing with disagreements or particularly sensitive issues,
criteria for accepting or excluding written submissions, and
the balance between the value of meetings for external bodies
versus the value to States Parties. The chairman committed
to editing his proposal to address the comments received,
including the modalities for the 2007 NGO meeting to the
first meeting of the WG in 2007, and including a discussion
on the 2007 industry meeting in the December meeting of the
WG.


3. (U) The chairman opened the floor for general thoughts on
the role of the CWC in enhancing international peace and
security. The U.S., Russia, Sudan, Spain, the Netherlands,
Austria, China, the UK, Canada, Germany, Korea, Japan, Italy,
Iran, South Africa, France, India, Mexico, and Australia all
made interventions, many rather formal statements. The
common themes from WEOG SPs and Japan were: helping SPs meet
their obligations, universality, progress in destruction
since first RevCon, effective verification and
confidence-building, UNSC 1540 and global counterterrorism,
Article VII progress and continuing efforts, developments in
science and technology, role of effective dialogue with
industry, challenge inspections, and chemical trade. Russia
focused on meeting obligations for all, not just those who
are possessors and in the process of destroying, as well as
thinking about the possibility of non-SPs who might be
possessors. The other SPs all pointed to destruction within
deadlines as their main focus
, with assistance and protection, international cooperation
for chemical advancement, universality, transfers to non-SPs,
inclusivity and non-discriminatory practices as additional
points.


4. (U) The next meeting of the Working Group will be December
11 at 10:30 am. The agenda will include a continuation of
discussion on the role of the CWC in enhancing international
peace and security, as well as measures to ensure the
universality of the CWC.

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BUDGET
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5. (U) Budget consultations were held on November 16. The DG
opened the meeting by saying that in compiling a presentation
on Article VI inspection proposed for 2007, he has become

even more convinced that the TS proposal was the right
proposal. He also noted that an additional 400 new OCPF
facilities were declared between December 2005 and June 2006
and this further reinforced the need for a significant
increase in OCPF inspections. Bill Kane (IVB) then gave a
presentation on Article VI inspections proposed for 2007 (the
presentation sent to ISN/CB by fax and e-mail on 11/17). At
the conclusion of Kane's presentation, the DG said that OCPFs
were a "black hole" about which the TS has very little
information. He said that if delegates tried to make the OCPF
inspection issue a political one it would seriously erode
confidence in the CWC regime and its effective contribution
to nonproliferation.


6. (U) In a subsequent phone call with Ambassador Javits, the
DG made it clear that he has strong views on the subject and
encouraged delegations to defend the TS proposal. He told the
Ambassador that no country should have a veto over what
should be a technical and not a political issue. The DG
implied that he would rather see a delay in getting a budget
than give in on an issue of principal.


7. (U) The next budget consultation, designed to give
delegations a chance to ask question about Kane's
presentation, will be on November 22.


8. (U) Javits sends.
ARNALL