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

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TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE
WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 21, 2007

This is CWC-78-07.

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EC-50 Preparations
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1. (U) On September 17, Ambassador Romeo Arguelles
(Philippines) chaired the preparatory meeting for EC-50 and
review of the agenda. There was little discussion.
Ambassador Javits urged delegations to address the issues for
decision and avoid the deferrals of routine business that
have characterized past Council sessions.

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QUAD LUNCH
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2. (SBU) French delegate and WEOG chair Annie Mari invited
members of the UK, German and US delegations to lunch
September 18 to discuss issues of mutual interest. German
delegates raised the question of the Maradykovsky documents
and what changes to the texts or decisions by the Council
would allow the U.S. to accept them. Discussion centered on
the Director General,s language from EC-49, clear commitment
to second stage verification under Article IV/V, commitment
to such verification at future facilities. Del reps agreed
to consult Washington authorities.


3. (SBU) Del reps noted the importance of new targeted action
on Article VII. The other dels agreed that continued action
is important, but thought it might be more productive to
pursue action directly through the TS than in the EC, where
linkage with an Article XI action plan was inevitable. On
OCPF inspections, the German reps expressed resistance to
continuing increases in inspection numbers without a more
rigorous look at targeting inspections more effectively to
relevant facilities. UK del rep noted that the push for
numbers provides the only leverage we have on pursuing
improved site selection.


4. (SBU) Topics proposed for the October Quad meeting
included Article VII, OCPF site selection,
destruction/Maradykovsky, and strategy for the Review
Conference particularly for the issue of non-lethals which is
certain to come up.

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ACADEMIC FORUM
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5. (U) Del reps attended several sessions of the Academic
Forum September 18 ) 19. Of note were several
presentations/discussions on riot control agents (RCAs),
non-lethals, and incapacitants.


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EXPANDED WEOG
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6. (SBU) The Western European and Others Group met on
September 20 with other interested delegations from Eastern
Europe, Japan and South Korea. Discussion centered on the
upcoming Executive Council session. Guest delegations
continue to express appreciation for the opportunity to have
frank discussions with the WEOG.


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ARTICLE VII
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7. (U) On September 17, Kimmo Laukkanen (Finland) chaired a
meeting on Article VII. The discussion focused on the format
for EC recommendations to the CSP ) e.g., a follow-up action
plan v. a decision v. report language. Most delegations
acknowledged that significant work remains to be done.


8. (U) Iran repeated several times their position that
report language only was needed and that decision language
was premature and inappropriate. Del rep deployed guidance
and insisted that the EC,s recommendations be addressed now,
which several delegations were quick to endorse. In the end,

the facilitator agreed to move forward with language that
could be used in whatever format or timing was agreed.


9. (U) On September 21, Del rep met with Laukkanen and
discussed options, presenting draft decision language and he
could use for developing a document for distribution.
Laukkanen,s plan is to distribute this no later than
September 24, with the intention of meeting during the EC to
try to reach a consensus on decision language.

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2008 BUDGET CONSULTATIONS
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10. (U) Del rep met with Labib Sahab (acting head, Budget and
Finance) to discuss the budget and to raise U.S. suggestions
on reallocation of EUR 570,000, including funding for the SAB
and funding to purchase a special CD-burner previously
requested by the TS. Sahab noted that a previous EC decision
limited the number of regular SAB meetings to one annually,
and it would take a new EC decision to increase the number of
SAB meetings before more funding could be allocated from the
regular budget.


11. (U) The budget consultations on September 19, were
dominated by the Deputy Director General,s presentation of
the DG's proposal on where to reallocate the EUR 570,000
resulting by reductions in U.S. and Russian destruction
estimates. The DG's new proposal includes two of the options
floated last week: increased training for inspectors (EUR
170,000),and purchasing additional inspection and
verification equipment (EUR 400,000). Del rep asked for
clarification on the type of equipment that would be
purchased. The DDG listed off some the equipment under
consideration; the TS promised to circulate a paper to all
delegations with more details. (NOTE: Following the
consultations, DDG approached Del rep to convey TS's
intention to purchase the special CD-burner either from the
EUR 400,000 equipment purchase proposal or from left-over
year-end funds.)


12. (U) During the consultations, Japan asked for more
justification for the addition of two fixed-term positions in
the 2008 budget. The DDG offered little explanation aside
from that provided in the budget. After the meeting,
Japanese delegate told Del rep that Tokyo is opposed to
increasing the number of fixed-term positions. He also noted
his intention to raise the issue again - along with Germany -
at the September 21 budget consultations and asked for U.S.
support on the issue.


13. (U) On September 21, the final budget consultations
before the EC again focused primarily on the DG's proposal.
In the absence of a paper with more details on its spending
plans, the Verification and Inspectorate directors gave
thorough presentations on their divisions' needs; the TS
promised to prepare and circulate a detailed paper on both
equipment and training.


14. (U) The UK raised the option of funding additional OCPF
inspections, but the issue seems tied up with the current
policy debate on site selection, with little likelihood of
reaching consensus. Canada and Australia were particularly
supportive of reducing the budget if additional inspections
were not feasible.


15. (U) Aside from Iran's continual insistence that the EUR
570,000 be reallocated to ICA to support International
Cooperation Branch activities, the general feeling among
delegations was that two choices remain: approving the DG's
proposal or reducing the budget. (COMMENT: Del recommends
to keep the budget at its current ZNG level and not reduce
the budget, joining other countries in supporting the DG's
proposal.)


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REPORT OF THE EXTERNAL AUDITOR
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16. (U) On September 19, Takayuki Kitagawa (Japan) chaired a
meeting to discuss the External Auditor's Report. Aside from
incessant questions raised on every point by Iran, the
meeting was uneventful. The most contentious issue raised by
Iran concerned the contingency margin; despite detailed
explanations from the TS about the situation, Iran noted that
the EC should request additional information from the TS.

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26TH OPCW DATA VALIDATION GROUP MEETING
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17. (U) On September 19, Del rep met with Armando Alcaraz and
Hugh Gregg (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) regarding
the results of this week,s Validation Group meeting. The
results of the Group,s data review was the acceptance of: 67
MS spectra (for OCAD inclusion),9 MS spectra (not for OCAD),
a number of NMR spectra (for OCAD inclusion),and 29 GC
retention indices (for OCAD inclusion). Other topics
discussed included: establishment of an LC/MS database for
potential inclusion in OCAD, inclusion of prediction GC
retention indices (to reduce false positives),and accepting
GC data based on a single run (rather than the normal three).


18. (U) Lastly, this meeting announced that Ed White (NIST)
would no longer serve as MS Chairman, acknowledging his
dedication and diligence over the years. A search for a
long-term replacement will prove very difficult. Mr. White
is no longer participating because previous funding for his
efforts has not been renewed.

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UNIVERSALITY
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19. (U) On September 20, Said Moussi (Algeria) chaired a
meeting on Universality. A draft decision was circulated and
formed the basis for most of the discussion. Suggestions
were made to include language from last year's decision
(C-11/DEC.8) and to clarify portions of the draft. It was
decided to take up the issue following EC-50. After the
meeting, Moussi approached Del reps to ask for assistance in
moving the decision forward and welcomed any advice or input
the Del might provide. The next meeting on Universality is
scheduled for October 5.

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FREQUENCY OF INSPECTION AND RISK ASSESSMENT
--------------

20. (U) On September 21, Amb. Dastis (Spain) chaired another
meeting on this topic. The meeting was again attended by the
DG and Verification staff.


21. (U) The first part of the discussion centered on the May
28, 2007 TS paper specifically on the Schedule 2 risk
assessment methodology. South Africa attempted to use the
text in paragraphs 16 and 17 of this paper to indicate that
Schedule 2 inspection levels should be higher than in the
current budget proposal. The TS made it clear that paragraph
16 is meant to demonstrate the high-end of the frequency
range for facilities where such was warranted, but that
paragraph 17 was meant to demonstrate the average frequency
over time. Japan and several WEOG delegations had some minor
questions but strongly supported the general approach the TS
took in this paper.


22. (U) The second part of the discussion was on the more
general May 25, 2007 TS paper. On Schedule 1, many WEOG
delegations expressed the opinion that the TS proposal was,
if anything, higher than necessary and might be further
reduced in later years. Germany, however, asked that the
Schedule 1 frequency be kept static to reflect the
sensitivity of these compounds. The Schedule 2 discussion
was truncated by the early specific discussion, and Schedule
3 was likewise short. The DG began the OCPF discussion (in
response to a South African comment) by referencing his EC-49
opening remarks, during which he recommended a revisit of
OCPF declaration components. This led to a long discussion
into how this might be done, during which Del rep reminded
delegations that, for many reasons (e.g., legislative),this

review needed to be kept within the bounds of current
declaration processes. In the end, it was agreed that the
declaration element found in VA Part IX para 4(c) ) &main
activities8 ) would be the focus of the review.
Eventually, it was decided that it was best for the TS to
make a first attempt at options for para 4(c),which will be
distributed to delegations, along with possible ways to
include appropriate expert input.


23. (U) Del Comment: The idea now being reviewed by the TS
was something that was being discussed internally within the
interagency. The fact that this approach was proposed and
gained such favorable ground will change the USG approach to
the matter. However, it will still be of value to provide
our thoughts and approaches to the TS for their consideration
during this time.

JAVITS SENDS.
Arnall